


We've Come a Long Way from Where We Began

by bad_ash10



Series: We've Come a Long Way from Where We Began [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Smut, Parent Melinda May, Philinda Bang 2k17, Unplanned Pregnancy, lost and separated team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 14:48:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 42,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12819852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bad_ash10/pseuds/bad_ash10
Summary: In this Melinda May centric fic, May wakes up post season 4, alone, and must track down the rest of the team.  She finds Daisy first, and the two draw closer as they slowly piece together the rest of the team. They must help one another to heal after their team was torn apart and May needs Coulson now more than ever.  Only with Daisy and the team’s help, will she have a chance to find him in time. (Philinda is end-game in this one.)Hello, everyone!  This is my first ever fic, and I hope you all enjoy it! Let me know what you think. I value constructive criticism! I basically wrote the kind of stuff I wanted to read. I haven't had enough Philinda fics to read during the AOS hiatus this year. :)





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May realizes she’s alone and tries to track down the team. She finally gets a lead on Daisy.

<http://bit.ly/philinda1125>

 

Melinda May’s eyes popped open suddenly.  What happened, she couldn’t quite remember, and the pain in her head was making it hard to think.  She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus.  When she opened them again, she tried to take stock of her surroundings. Bar stools, booths, and outdated tile beneath her on the floor. She was in a diner and dressed in her typical combat uniform.  Lying on the floor she couldn’t be sure, but apart from the ridiculous ache in her head, May seemed to be uninjured. Why was she here? And better yet, where was everyone else?  Plates of half eaten food were on the counter and several tables.  No customers or employees were in sight.

 _Phil._ His name came to her suddenly; she had been here with him, but what about the rest of the team? _Yes_ , she thought. _They were here, too_.  May wished she could remember what happened, but her head was pounding so hard she could barely organize her thoughts. She blinked as the diner spun around her, as she swallowed down the bile rising in her throat. She made herself breathe and then, it all came rushing back: _Framework.  Coulson. Daisy. Fitzsimmons. We stopped running._

It was obvious that everyone else had been taken, but why not her?  None of this made any sense.  May managed to pull herself upright, stumbling a bit from the wave of dizziness that hit her.  _Probably a concussion._ After a quick look, she realized the SUVs they had taken to the diner were still parked outside.  She made her way to one and tried to contact the team on the built in Comms.  No response.

_Why is it that every time Coulson and I get close to each other something happens to rip us apart yet again?_

 She made her way back inside, stumbling again from the pain and dizziness.  For nearly an hour May scoured the diner for a clue or a sign of any kind, stopping periodically to keep the dizziness from getting the best of her. When she came up empty handed, she moved to the parking lot with the same results.  The gravel was undisturbed, and the diner was in the middle of nowhere, so there were no security cameras anywhere for her to pull footage from. 

Frustrated and discouraged, May realized there was no place for the team to regroup, should they have managed to evade those that attacked them.  Still suffering from a crippling headache, Melinda May sat in the driver’s seat of one of the SUVs, and allowed herself a moment of weakness: for the first time in a long time, she cried.

\----------

Almost four weeks later, May had taken over as acting director of SHIELD, and had teams working round the clock to rebuild the Playground.  She had taken up residence with several other agents in a wing that had been relatively unaffected by the blast her LMD doppelganger had set. 

May had been feeling ill all morning and was hunched over a desk trying to make her tired eyes focus on the papers in front of her, hoping there would be a sign of her team members today. The only thing she thought of when she wasn’t pushing through data and reports was them: _Coulson. Daisy. Phil. Fitzsimmons. Coulson. Mack and Yo-yo. Phil._ Every time she thought of them, she felt a pang of guilt for being the only one left.  And every time she thought of _him_ , it was infinitely worse than the others.  They had finally been on the verge of… _something._ Then someone intervened, and everything went to hell.

She was nearly ready to tear someone’s head off from her weeks of fruitless research when she heard a voice behind her. “Director, I think I have something you’ll want to see.” 

Fully expecting yet another invoice or status report on the repairs and rebuilding of the base, May stuck out her hand without a response. 

“Ma’am. This is important. I’d like to go over what I’ve found.”

When she looked up, she saw the face of a young agent, Matthews, she knew by sight was working in the tech department.  _Please let her have something on Coulson._ May nodded her ascent and gestured for the young lady to sit.

“Director, I think I have a lead on Agent Johnson.”

May forced herself not to react in front of the younger agent, but her heart was pounding. It may not be a lead on _him,_ but at least it was a lead on Daisy. She forced herself to slow her heart rate so she could focus on what the agent was saying.

“Ma’am, they never mention her by name in their reports, but it has to be her.”

She passed the report to May and continued, “The UN has recently acquired a female Inhuman with what the report calls ‘powers strong enough to topple a building if unrestrained.’ As well as describing special ‘manacles and modified handcuffs’ to restrict her powers.  The report has several other references that fit Agent Johnson perfectly. Including mentioning that the ‘prisoner was a former Agent of SHIELD,’ is ‘partially of Asian descent,’ and unfortunately it also mentions that she ‘is hard to break, even under extreme duress.’”

May was taking this all in and was so far feeling slightly hopeful and sick to her stomach from the descriptions of torture she was reading. So far, she hadn’t seen any real proof that this was Daisy “This is all very promising, but this could easily fit another Inhuman.  What do you have that proves it’s her?”

The agent leaned over the table and pointed to a section on the report. “It’s a small reference to who I believe to be you and Director Coulson that confirms it. If you read this paragraph, ma’am, it says the woman in question was finally… ‘broken’ and was calling out repeatedly for ‘former Director of SHIELD’ with the name being redacted and ‘repeatedly saying the word ‘May’ when exposed to certain forms of coercion. It appears whomever oversaw her case assumed this was referring to the month or a time in her past, but I believe she was referring to you, Director.”

May’s mouth had gone dry, “Where… where are they keeping her?” Her mind was racing, and she was acutely aware that the young agent was still watching her.  Regaining her composure May looked at the woman in front of her, “Well?”

“That’s where things get tricky ma’am. We’re trying to find a reference or a clue, but it appears to be an undisclosed location.”

May slumped back in her chair, feeling on the verge of getting sick.  Apparently barely eating or sleeping over the past weeks was taking a toll on her, especially since she had never had a chance to recover from her time in the Framework.  Now finding out this information about Daisy was pushing her past her limits.

“Director, I will keep looking for a way to get Agent Johnson. I have a starting point now, so we can put more agents on this lead if you would like. We can search for a mention of the location she is being held or potentially tracking the movements of those who are named in the reports.  Then we may be able to run a rescue mission or find a way to get her.  I wanted to make sure you were aware of the situation.”

“Thank you, Agent Matthews. Put three additional agents on this.  I want you running the investigation.  I’m sure I don’t have to remind you to be discreet so that we don’t generate suspicion by snooping through restricted files.”

“No, ma’am.  I’ll keep you updated.”

\----------

After May was sure she was alone, she breathed a huge sigh of relief.  She felt tears behind her eyes and blinked repeatedly to keep them from falling.  Bracing herself on the desk, she slowly got to her feet.  Fighting a sudden wave of nausea, she took a few deep breaths to try to keep the contents of her stomach down. After a few seconds it became obvious she was going to be sick anyway and she barely made it to the trash-can in time.  Instead of going back to the desk, May slid to the floor and rested her head on her knees. 

Without realizing it, she fell asleep and dreamed of her one night with Coulson between the Framework disaster and the team’s disappearance. They hadn’t really intended to have sex after they had agreed to take a step back and wait for the timing to be right, but neither of them had wanted to be alone after they were reunited. One thing had led to another, even without the bottle of Haig. Apparently 30 years of sexual tension had finally been pushed to the breaking point. She woke to a knock on her door, with his name on her lips.

“Yeah?” she answered as she climbed to her feet. _What the fuck? I can’t get a damn moment to myself as director.  I did not miss this at all. It’s just as miserable as last time._

She sat in the chair as the door opened to reveal Agent Matthews again. Confused Melinda looked at the young agent in front of her. “You weren’t gone long, Agent.  Did you forget something?”

“Ma’am? It’s been almost 18 hours since I was in your office. Are you alright, Director?”

Looking at her watch and then at the window, May noticed for the first time that it was dark outside. “Fine. I must’ve been lost in my paperwork.  What do you need?”

“I think we’ve found her.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daisy gets rescued.

It had taken her nine miserably long days, but May had finally gotten a meeting with someone with the right Need to Know to give her Daisy, who could also be bought: General Ross who oversaw the Raft. She was posing as a Chinese official who had had a quarrel with SHIELD and was willing to give a few state secrets, as well as a large monetary transfer, in exchange for the Inhuman prisoner the UN had locked in the ‘non-existent’ prison in the ocean.

She only had to hope that Ross wouldn’t change his mind. He was the top dog at the Raft, but he could change his mind at any time if the mood struck him. She was standing stock still on the tarmac in the 100-degree heat waiting on her contact to arrive, and trying not to pass out. Between the heat, not sleeping, not eating, and all the stress, May was having a tough time keeping herself upright. 

May had brought a caravan of three SUVs; two of which were filled with specialists to pose as her security detail and take down her contact, should the deal go south. She had one burley agent standing on each side of her as they waited.

At long last, her connection arrived with his own caravan of blacked out SUVs. No sign of Daisy yet, but that was to be expected; they would ensure the transfer of funds and get the files from her before May would be allowed access to their prisoner.

General Ross had done as she expected and sent someone in his place to make the tradeoff. It wouldn’t look good for the person who had imprisoned half of the Avengers to give an Inhuman and former SHIELD agent to China.  Especially considering what he was receiving in turn.

When the man addressed her, May responded by handing him the files they had agreed upon (really it was a lot of useless info, but he didn’t know that). When he seemed satisfied with he saw, she asked to see the prisoner in imperfect, accented English before she agreed to have the money wired.  He signaled to his men, who dragged Daisy out of the middle SUV.  Even from a distance of a couple of hundred feet, May could see how frail the girl looked, and it only became worse as they escorted her closer.  They had a blindfold covering her eyes, gauntlets on her arms, and some strange handcuffs on top of them, presumably to keep her from using her powers.  May nodded her ascent and gestured to the guard on her left, who knew that as the sign to transfer the money.  Melinda was having a tough time keeping her nerves and temper in check after seeing what condition Daisy was in so she didn’t speak much throughout their exchange, choosing instead to clench her teeth to keep from showing signs of weakness or emotion. 

Once the transfer was complete, one of her guards grabbed Daisy and escorted her back to the waiting SUV.  May shook the hand of the man sent to oversee the transaction, and turned swiftly to get into the SUV with the second officer right on her heels.  May was physically shaking by the time she got in the SUV and climbed in next to Daisy. It concerned her that Daisy hadn’t said anything or put up a fight the entire time.  _What did they do to break her?_

The driver of her SUV already had them on the road to the airport to switch their vehicles. and she raised the soundproof partition between the front and back before addressing Daisy.  She attempted to pull the heavy blindfold from Daisy’s head only to receive a headbutt to the nose in exchange before she could do more than loosen it.  Daisy was now doing her best to kick, hit, and headbutt anything she could reach, but it was obvious she was tiring after only a few sec    onds. Her response had caught Melinda off guard, which was hard to do, but May finally pulled the blindfold from Daisy’s eyes before catching her by the shoulders and made her see who had her in custody.

“It’s me! It’s just me, Daisy! I’ve got you.  They can’t hurt you anymore.  I promise.”

“M…may?” Her voice was cracked with dryness and emotion.

May was silent and doing her best to hide the welling tears. Her emotions were trying their best to get past her usually controlled face. Melinda’s hands were shaking as she undid the handcuffs and started to take off the gauntlets.  They were similar to the ones Simmons had designed for Daisy to keep her arms from breaking from the force of her power, but based on the bruising all the way up her forearms, these gauntlets seemed to have had the opposite effect and only allowed Daisy’s powers to exert force on herself, rather than the world around her. 

Melinda felt a tear roll down her cheek without even realizing she was crying.  She locked eyes with Daisy, who was also crying, and the two finally embraced once her arms were free.  Daisy was sobbing uncontrollably and Melinda was doing her best to comfort the girl.  It was good they had a three-hour drive to the airport, so no one would interrupt her breakdown. 

After nearly half an hour, Daisy had quieted enough to hold a conversation.  May explained everything she knew: the unknown occurrence in the diner, tracking Daisy to the Raft, still having no sign of the others, and everything happening back at base.  They talked for nearly an hour and a half, with Daisy refusing to give up physical contact with Melinda.  It seemed to May like Daisy thought as long as they maintained a link, then she was actually safe.  Once Daisy was mostly up to speed on what had happened in the last five and a half weeks, May suggested for her to lay down and rest until they arrived at the airport to switch vehicles. In typical Daisy fashion, she protested, but at May’s insistence, she did lay down, surprising the older woman by laying her head in her lap.  After a moment’s hesitation, May began to rub Daisy’s back in a comforting gesture.

“May?”

“Mmm?”

“Thank you. For saving me. I…. I don’t know how much longer I would’ve lasted in there.”

May felt an unbidden tear roll down her cheek and her heart drop at the unusually serious tone to the young agent’s voice. After she was sure her voice wouldn’t crack, she tried to lighten the mood. “Daisy.  If you ever headbutt me again, there’ll be hell to pay.”  She felt the young girl smile against her leg.

“Oh, and I have one more question, May:  What the hell are you wearing?”

May smirked despite herself. She had forgotten she was in a traditional red silk Chinese dress as part of her alias. _That’s more like the girl I know._

_\----------_

Everyone at SHIELD had been excited for Daisy to return, but she just seemed nervous from all the attention. _Hell, I would be, too if I had just been tortured for over 5 weeks. I already don’t have much tolerance for people._

“Ok, people, Daisy has been away for quite a while.  Give her some space.  She has wounds that need dressing so let her go.”  May roughly pushed past everyone in the direction of the medical wing with Daisy following in her wake. 

Once they got to the medical wing, May could tell that Daisy was uncomfortable with the young male agent attempting to clean her wounds and assess the damage. As soon as the young man finished taking x-rays of her arms, May decided to get rid of him. “Bridges, leave us. I’ll take care of her during debrief.”

“But Director,” he began.

“I have stitched and cleaned my share of wounds.  Are you questioning my authority?” She responded with an icy glare.

“No, ma’am,” he managed to squeak out before he hurriedly left the room.

 _Damn right._  Melinda turned toward the girl. Daisy looked small and afraid on the gurney, and May spoke to her with a soft, gentle voice. “Daisy, we aren’t going to do a debrief until you’re ready. Do you want to take a shower before we bandage you up?”

Daisy nodded her agreement and May took her to one of the few showers in the back of the medical bay.  “I’m going to go find you a decent towel instead of these scratchy ones.  Hop in and I’ll be right back.”

Before May had even gotten back to her bunk, she had to lean against a wall and ride out a wave of nausea.  _I have got to start taking better care of myself so this won’t keep happening._

Pressing onward, she had just enough time to change out of her red dress and grab a few towels and a change of clothes for Daisy when the earthquake began. “Damnit, Daisy.” She whispered as she started running back to where she had left the girl.

People were in the hallways looking confused and questioning her as she sprinted past. The quake was increasing in intensity.  She finally rounded the last corner and almost ran into Daisy.

“May! I can’t stop it! I need you to Ice me!” Daisy was trembling all over, with tears running down her face.

“Daisy,” she said in a calm quiet voice. “Look at me and focus.  You’ve come a long way from when you first tried to control your powers. No one can take away the control and discipline you have. You CAN control it.”

“NO! I can’t. I’ve tried. Nothing is working!”

“Daisy. I don’t have an Icer on me, so I need you to calm down.” Melinda reached out a hand toward the terrified agent in front of her.

“May, I’ll hurt you! No, no, no.” Daisy kept backing further away, but May lunged forward and caught the girl’s hands. May could feel her own arms vibrating in time with the ground beneath her.

“Daisy. Look at me.  They can’t touch you again.  You’re fine.”

“May, let go!  I can’t help it, I have no control right now!”

Even though she was a couple of inches shorter, May wrapped her arms around Daisy and held her tight.  She now could feel her whole body shaking with the force of Daisy’s power, but it gradually began to slow. Melinda knew Daisy wouldn’t care if she hurt herself, but would bring her power under control if it meant she would injure May.

Once the shaking had finally stopped, Melinda asked, “Better?”

Daisy was still trembling slightly, but at least she had stopped the earthquake. She nodded, “Better.” May eased her grip and Daisy slowly slid to the floor and drew her knees up to her chest.

Sitting next to her Melinda said, “Daisy, you don’t have to tell me details or describe what happened. Not yet at least. But if you decide you want to, I’m here. I know what it’s like to lose yourself and not feel whole. After Bahrain… well, I’m still haunted by it. I know you act like nothing ever phases you, but I don’t want you to fall down the same rabbit hole I did.”

Daisy nodded silently, tears streaming down her face. May put her hand on Daisy’s knee for a moment and used the leverage to push herself to a standing position.  As soon as she was upright, May’s head started spinning, and she made a run for the nearest shower drain to be sick. She was on her hands and knees and could feel Daisy holding her hair out of the way. _Well so much for that. This nosy kid is going to pester the hell out of me until I see a doctor. She’ll think this is all her fault for ‘quaking’ me._

“May, I’m sorry. This is my fault.  If you hadn’t had to grab me while I was quaking, you wouldn’t be getting sick right now. I’ll get it together, I promise.” She seemed so ashamed and May was still too busy heaving to respond. Even though she had hardly eaten, she was on the floor dry heaving long after everything had come up. Daisy was still trying to apologize through the whole ordeal.

“Daisy. Shut up. Not your fault.” Once Melinda had caught her breath some she continued, “I’ve been having a hard time from all the stress and barely eating or sleeping.  It’s taking a toll on me physically. That’s it.  And no one is to know.  The only reason I’m telling you is because I know you won’t stop blaming yourself otherwise.”

May coaxed Daisy into taking a shower, promising to wait right outside in case she needed her, and then got her wounds cleaned and bandaged.  Only one cut need to be closed and May opted for butterfly strips to save from giving the girl an even larger scar on her forehead.

Once they left the medical wing, May showed Daisy to her new living quarters in the undamaged part of the base.  May had asked for dinner to be delivered to Daisy’s room and it arrived just as they did.  May left Daisy with instructions to eat dinner and go to sleep, while she left to catch up on the paperwork she knew would be waiting on her desk.

\----------

Late that night, Melinda crawled into bed, exhausted, but too worried about Daisy to sleep.  She dozed on and off for an hour before hearing her door being opened.  When she looked at the bright light streaming in, she could make out Daisy’s silhouette. Propping herself up partially, she said, “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“May, I can’t sleep.  Every time I get close to falling asleep, the bed starts shaking and I’m afraid I’ll set off another earthquake. Would it…. Could I…. can I stay here with you?” The question was so unexpected and she spoke so softly, Melinda couldn’t be sure she had even heard the girl correctly.

“What?”

“No, it’s weird. I’ll go…”

“Daisy. Come on.” She slid over to make room for the younger girl, but was worried with how vulnerable the usually tough agent was acting. _Who am I kidding? It’s not like I’ve been acting like myself either. I’ve been more open and vulnerable with her today than I have been in a long time. At least more so than with anyone other than Phil_.

After a moment the bed started shaking, but Melinda realized that it was because of Daisy crying, not from her powers. She debated with herself for just a moment since she was still not a huge fan of all the physical contact, but she considered Daisy a daughter and knew the young girl needed her to act like a parent right now.

“Daisy,” she whispered as she slid closer to the girl. Daisy rolled to her side and put her head on May’s shoulder and an arm around her waist. May rubbed the girl’s back and held her close as her crying gradually calmed.

After she was able to speak with only the occasional sniffle Daisy said, “May, I want to tell you something, but, I’m not sure how you’ll react. I know I haven’t always been the best agent or team member or anything, but you’ve always been there for me even when I didn’t want  you to be. Our team has been like a family to me. You and Coulson have been the parents I have never had, even when I tried to avoid you and hurt you and push you away. What I’m trying to say is… I…” Fresh tears had started to fall from Daisy’s eyes.

Melinda turned to look at the girl in her arms. “I know.” She gently planted a kiss on Daisy’s forehead, surprising them both. “Me, too,” she said and squeezed her tighter for a moment.

Daisy was asleep soon after their conversation ended, but May lay awake for a while, and it was her turn to shed a few tears. Thinking of Coulson and the rest of the team, the damage they had done to Daisy; it was all too much for her to handle.

\----------

May was caught up in the middle of a dream: _she and Coulson were married and had a 6-year-old little girl with the most beautiful brown eyes and dark hair, a miniature version of herself.  They were in her mother’s yard and running around with the child, before Phil swooped Melinda up from behind and spun her around for a quick kiss. They were interrupted by the little girl squealing with delight and giggling while Jemma and Daisy chased her. She felt completely happy and at ease for the first time in many, many years._

Melinda awoke to a knock on the door, coming back to the reality around her. She gently disengaged Daisy’s arms from around her waist and hurried to the door. It had been almost two weeks since she had gotten Daisy back. The young agent still had moments where she would have a panic-ridden dream or a flashback to her torture, and set off a minor earthquake, but she was slowly but steadily improving.  Still, Daisy didn’t want to sleep alone, and to be honest, May was content to have company as well.

“Director, I know we aren’t supposed to bother you, but there was a security breach.  We need you.”

“I’ll be right there.”

She ran to the bed and gently touched Daisy’s shoulder. “Daisy, I have to go handle a problem. Do you want to come with me or stay here?”


	3. Chapter 3

They rounded the corner to her office within a minute. 

“Update,” May commanded gruffly as she gestured for Daisy to sit behind the computer at her desk.  She wanted Daisy to have complete access to this. The sooner she could get Daisy back to work, the sooner they could put together the rest of the team.

Agents were scattered around the table looking at the screen on the wall, and one in the center stood and started to speak.

“Director, it appears we have an unidentified object approaching. It is just a faint shadow on radar, and we are waiting to get eyes on it.  We did not know if you wanted to shoot it down before it gets within range or wait until we have a visual.”

“How far out?”

“Still two miles out from the perimeter, but approaching at approximately 20 miles per hour. It will be at the perimeter in six minutes. We haven’t replaced the cameras in the area it is expected to cross the perimeter, so we only have a series of small glimpses and grainy images. It will be at least 10 minutes before we can get a clear view of it unless you want us to send out a drone.”

“Wait it out. I don’t want anyone to know we’re here unless we have to.”

Daisy had been frantically typing away all this time on May’s computer and continued for several minutes as they continued to wait. After about five minutes she shouted, “May! We can’t shoot them down at all. Look!” She projected the image she had pieced together from snippets of security images that were grainy, but obviously showed several miniature drones flying in a pack.

“I need visual confirmation on this right now. I need to know how many there are. We will take full precautions until we have confirmation this is what I think it is. I need agents waiting to make sure it doesn’t contain explosives or other hazards. If this is what I think, they will land outside the old entrance. GO! Now! I also need representatives from the science division on stand-by for when they have been cleared to come inside. Do not go outside until I give the order. The rest of you can go back to work.”

After the rest of the agents had filed out, Daisy had jumped up and come to stand next to where May was sitting on the edge of the desk. “Do you think it could be Fitzsimmons, May?”

“I hope so. We shouldn’t get our hopes up too high, yet though. Let’s go see.” May cracked a small, rare smile and stood up quickly. She had to grab the edge of the desk with one hand Daisy with the other to keep from falling over.  She was able to lower herself slowly to the floor and put her head between her knees to ease the nausea. She could hear Daisy asking if she was alright, but May couldn’t open her mouth to answer for fear of getting sick.

May thought she had been doing a decent job of hiding her “spells” from Daisy after the first day, but based on Daisy’s quick reaction of putting a trash can in front of her, she hadn’t hidden it well enough. She hunched over the trash can and Daisy held her hair back.

“May, after we figure out these drones, I think you owe me an explanation.”

May nodded as she wretched again. _Oh, God. I hope I’m wrong about this._

  Several minutes later they started down the hall.  Daisy was still throwing concerned looks in May’s direction.

“Stop it. I’m fine.”

Daisy snorted. “Sure as hell could’ve fooled me.”

May gave Daisy an icy glare that told her to back off as she and Daisy walked outside of the old entrance and saw four small drones, all identical except each was roughly carved with a different name: Sleepy, Bashful, Grumpy, and Doc.

The bomb squad captain came up to May to give his report. “Ma’am, there are no explosives of any kind, and no preliminary signs of chemical agents either.  But scans do seem to indicate a payload of some kind in each one.”

Daisy had started examining each one while May listened to the brief. “Daisy, what do you think?”

“As far as I can tell, they are almost the exact same as what Fitzsimmons developed when we first went out in the field together.”

May nodded and gestured to the young man from the science division to come closer. “Agent McCormack, take these back to the lab and work with the rest of the science division to figure out how to get the payload.  If you get them open, alert me immediately.  Otherwise I want Agent Johnson to be my proxy on this project since she is more familiar with this technology. You will report to her daily to keep her apprised of the situation.”

May turned and headed back inside, “Agent Johnson, come with me. We have another matter to address.”

They headed back toward May’s room.  Surprisingly, Daisy waited until they were nearly there before she started asking questions. “Are you going to explain everything to me?”

May didn’t respond.

“May, you have to keep me in the loop, it’s just us now.”

Still no response. “May!” Daisy grabbed the older agent’s arm forcing her to a stop in the hallway.

“I see you’re back to yourself if you’re asking all these questions.”

“Stop deflecting, May. I know you’re hiding something.”

May grabbed Daisy by her arm, making sure not to be too rough with her still-healing bruises, and pulled her the remaining hundred feet or so to the room they were currently sharing. Once inside, May sat on the edge of the bed and put her head in her hands. She felt Daisy sit next to her and wait for a response.

May sat up straight and sighed heavily.  She could see the look of concern on Daisy’s face. Melinda forced herself to Daisy in the eyes and began speaking carefully in a measured voice, “I don’t know for sure, but I’m fairly positive I know what’s going on. I thought it was just stress and lack of sleep, but then this morning I realized it’s probably something else.”

She knew she was on the verge of tears and had to finish her statement quickly before they started to fall, but Melinda couldn’t quite force herself to say it out loud. Now that she had a moment to sit and think, she was realizing how terrified she was. _I can’t do it. I can’t do any of this. I don’t deserve it after what happened in Bahrain._ She ran to the small bathroom attached to her quarters and got sick for the second time that day. This time from the overwhelming feeling of dread and despair that was washing over her as she was processing what all of this might mean.

Daisy came in and got her a damp washcloth to clean her face with when she was done.

May sat back against the wall, and Daisy slid down beside her, still not saying a word. Looking down, she finally got the courage to whisper the words that she was afraid of more than anything, even more than losing Phil and the rest of the team, “I think I might be pregnant.”

She looked up at Daisy, and saw a look of complete shock that was slowly transforming into a wide grin on the young girl’s face.

“May that’s… that’s fantastic news! I thought you were dying or you were sick after being in the Framework! Obviously, Coulson is the father, right?”

May nodded briskly, but Daisy noticed that May was more distant than she had been in a long time.

“May, this is a _good_ thing.”

“Why, Daisy? What makes this a good thing?” May started off at her normal volume, but this was one of the rare occasions she lost her control and her voice was steadily rising. She pushed herself to her feet and started speaking again. “Our team is still scattered across the world, with no sign of half of them. There’s no way to know where Phil is to tell him he’s going to be a father. We aren’t even a real couple for fuck’s sake! I don’t even know if he is still alive! I can’t do this alone, and even then, I don’t think I will be a good mother! After Bahrain, I don’t deserve to be one at all! To top it all off, I’m 50 years old! Who knows if I can even carry a baby to term, and even then, what if something goes wrong?" She swallowed  hard and continued in a choked whisper, "I won’t survive a loss like that.”

She walked out of the bathroom and sat down heavily on the bed and sighed. “I’m sorry Daisy. You shouldn’t have to deal with…”

Before she could finish, Daisy had sat down next to her and grabbed her hand. “May, we WILL find them. Together, we will bring them all home, but until then, you are not alone: we will be here for each other. Now, you might be 50, but your health is nearly perfect.  The Framework took a lot out of you, but I can tell you’re nearly back to your old self. And as far as Bahrain is concerned, you have got to forgive yourself for it. I know you had no choice; you know you had no choice. Look at the positive side of things for once, May! You and Coulson are gonna have a baby!”

\----------

That night after dinner, May went back to take a shower while Daisy went to work on the dwarves with the team trying to unlock them.  She was pleased that Daisy had taken the initiative to leave her and go to work. Maybe it would give the girl a push to start moving past whatever had happened to her at the Raft. _She’ll have to tell me eventually, but pushing her before she’s ready won’t help her._

She washed her hair and then stood in the stream of the shower for far too long lost in her thoughts. _Fitzsimmons at least sent us a sign.  If we can ever get inside the damn drones, we can go after them. If anybody can figure it out, I’m sure Daisy can._

Piecing together the team was her main concern. Logic told her that as Director, they would have taken Coulson to a high security location, that could be anywhere in the world: underground, under the ocean, in the desert. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed their help to find him.

She knew she had never intended for them to feel like a family when she assembled the team at Fury’s request, but somehow she had let them in. _Hell, I need them back because I can’t find him alone, but I want them back because I miss them. I need them here to keep my sanity._

She thought of how Phil’s face lit up when someone mentioned Captain America; his corny jokes and sassy one-liners that made her roll her eyes in fake annoyance; and wondered for the millionth time why he had left her. She missed being able to go sit on his desk while they reviewed files, sitting across from him when they ate dinner, and just the sense of his presence around the base.

Still standing under the water, she could almost imagine that she could still hear him saying her name:

_“Melinda, wait,” he said._

_Oh, she loved when he used her first name. “If you want, you can come in and stay for a while. I’m not really up for sleep after my time in the nightmare chamber, and I doubt you are either.”_

_She had smirked at him and agreed, walking past him through the door, “I think you’re probably right.”_

_They ended up sitting in the chairs in the corner of his room and talking about their various experiences in the Framework before working their way back to stories of the old days in the field together._

_In a lull between stories, he had surprised her by suddenly asking if she thought the universe was against them. He stood and began pacing as he continued, his voice rising as he expressed his frustrations. “Melinda, it just seems every time we get close to figuring out where our relationship is heading, something dramatic happens. Somebody gets captured. Aliens interfere. Hell, fucking robots try to take over the world!” He slammed his hand on the table._

_She raised her eyebrows in response to his statement and stood, putting her hands on his biceps and running them slowly down his arms, before taking his hands in hers. She looked him in the eyes, her voice coming out more timid than she expected, “We just haven’t been making use of our time, Phil.” May could feel her heart pounding as she waited for his response._

_He dropped her hands and pulled her in for a comforting embrace.  She put her arms around him and sighed contentedly.  Coulson pulled back slightly and used one hand to tilt her head back so he could kiss her. The kiss started softly, but they quickly turned it into one of intense passion._

_She could feel his growing arousal against her. His hands were tangled in her hair; hers were looped together behind his neck. He grabbed her hips and picked her up swiftly, allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist as he carried her the few short feet to the bed. He sat her down gently and started unbuttoning his shirt as she pulled hers over her head and stripped off her bra._

_She grabbed his pants by the belt loops and pulled him the last remaining step toward her. She undid his belt and the button on his slacks, letting them drop to the floor. Melinda laid back to make it easier for him to strip her from the waist down, raising her hips to allow him to pull off her leggings and underwear._

_Once they were both naked, Phil backed away. “Melinda, are you sure? I don’t want to pressure you into doing anything you don’t want to do.”_

_“No one makes me do anything I don’t want to do, Phil,” she said in a sultry voice._

_“I’m being serious, Mel. We agreed to take it slow, and this is far from that.”_

_She got up and crossed the space between them. May wrapped her arms around him and could feel how ready he was with their bodies pressed together like this._

_Looking him in the eye she said, “Phil, tomorrow we’re essentially turning ourselves in.  I didn’t come to your room with the intent to have sex with you, but the opportunity is here.  I think if we don’t take it, we will regret it.”_

_She held their eye contact for a moment longer before standing on her tip toes to kiss him. “You mean more to me than you’ll ever know, and I want this, Phil. I want us. I can’t wait another 30 years to be with you.”_

_Then Melinda grabbed Phil’s hand and led him to the bed._

She hadn’t heard the knock or the opening of the bathroom door, and was startled out of her reverie by Daisy asking if she was alright.

“Yeah. Fine.” She said in a voice thick with emotion as she turned off the water. Melinda had been so lost in thought she hadn’t even realized the water had turned cold during her shower. Daisy tossed her a towel and turned to go back to the bedroom.

“Wait. Any luck with the drones?” May had started to dry off as Daisy began talking.

“Well, yes and no. We found that there’s a small computer within each one that requires some type of code or password to open the payload compartment.”

“Can we not cut our way in?” May asked as she started to get dressed.

“We could, but we can’t tell what’s in there or if it would be damaged by going that route. Instead I wrote a decryption program that should find us the right password, but apparently, I trained Fitz too well with how to write an uncrackable password, so it’s going to probably take a _while_.”

Walking out of the bathroom, May shut the light off and climbed into bed. “I’m getting up at 5 for Tai Chi if you want to join me. Then you and I are going off base. We have to leave by 7:15.”

“Do we have a lead on anybody? Where are we going?”

“No.  I have an appointment and I assume you’d want to come.” May was hoping Daisy wouldn’t say she wanted to stay here to work on the drones. As much as she hated to admit it, she didn’t want to go alone to the doctor’s appointment. Especially since she had scheduled it with a specialist nearly 200 miles away.

Daisy had just climbed into bed. “A doctor’s appointment?” she asked with a wide grin.

May rolled her eyes. At least this news had managed to pull Daisy out of the shell she had been hiding in since she came back. “Yes.”

“Are you kidding? Of course, I want to go!”

\----------

Melinda dreamed of him that night.  They weren’t doing anything exciting.  Just talking.  She knew it was a dream, but she didn’t really care. She was desperate for any part of him, even if it was all in her mind.  Suddenly the dream shifted, to one similar to the previous night’s dream.  They were chasing a little girl, but this time there was a note of panic to it. Every time Melinda or Phil got close, the girl would suddenly put on a burst of speed and avoid them.  Melinda was frantic as they chased the girl into an old warehouse.  Phil disappeared as they were searching for her, and Melinda was even more panicked than before, now searching for both Phil and the girl. Suddenly the child appeared out of nowhere, but it wasn’t their child.  It was Katya. “Give me your pain.”

 May scrambled backward and was screaming for the girl to back up.  “I don’t want to hurt you, but you have to stop!”

Right as the gun went off, May jolted awake, covered in sweat and trembling. This dream was a new one.  Katya still haunted her dreams occasionally, but never had a dream struck her like this one. Instinctively she put one hand protectively over her stomach and reached the other one out for Daisy to pull her close, but her hand only found empty sheets. Melinda got up to go look for the girl, and finally found her in the lab staring at the computer that was still trying to decrypt the passwords on the drones.

“Daisy? Why are you in here? It’s 1:30.” May heard her sniffle and could see her move to wipe her eyes. Still feeling an overwhelming need to protect Daisy she walked forward and attempted to hug the girl from behind. Before she could get her arms around her though, Daisy vaulted up out of the chair and moved toward the wall.

“May, I don’t want to risk hurting you or the baby.  I don’t think I should be too close to you anymore. I quaked you once already and who knows what damage it did.  I can’t risk it again.”

May sighed heavily. She should’ve seen this coming; Daisy was so unsure of herself and her powers now. They had wounded her self-confidence while torturing her body. It wasn’t something a person could easily come back from.

“Hey.” She spoke softly and reassuringly, “Daisy, that was nearly two weeks ago. I am fine. I trust you completely.  If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here worried about where you’ve been. If you insist on sleeping somewhere else, that’s fine, but I hope you don’t.” _Phil would be better at this than me. He’s always been better at these things._

“May, I just…” She sighed defeatedly. “I’m not myself. I don’t have the same level of control that I used to. Not after the Raft. I don’t see how you can trust me, when I can’t even trust myself.”

Melinda crossed the short space between them and said, “I trust you with my life, Daisy. Other people can usually see things about us that we can’t see ourselves.”

Seeing she still wasn’t making much improvement on Daisy’s insecurities, May changed tactics: she opened herself up. “After Bahrain, I thought I lost myself, but Phil could tell I was always the same person, just damaged. Physically I healed, but emotionally? I realize now that pushing everyone away, to keep from taking them down with me, was a mistake.  The only one who I never got rid of? Was him.”

She was starting to get frustrated that Daisy was still refusing to make eye-contact and intentionally staring at a spot on the floor.  “I won’t leave you alone because you tell me to!”

By this point, Daisy was shaking her head, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

“Damnit! I won’t let you make the same mistake I did! I’m your…” She stopped herself short as she realized the truth of what she was about to say.

Daisy had suddenly looked at May and was looking at her with wide, hopeful eyes.

May lowered her voice, almost to a whisper. “I’m your mother.” Biology wasn’t always what made you a family.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fitzsimmons finally makes an appearance!

“May, I’ve been thinking.”

May glanced at the Daisy in the passenger seat of her SUV. _She’s got that smirk back again._ May knew Daisy was about to say something snarky or dripping with sarcasm.

“Well after my meltdown last night, I realized that if you called yourself my mother, then why am I still calling you by your last name?” She had said it with a playful lilt in her voice, but seemed to be half serious.

“What would you prefer to call me then?”

“How about Mommy? Mom? Mama May? Mama Mellie? Just Mama?” Daisy was messing with her now.

May rolled her eyes in faux exasperation. “If you want, you can call me Melinda, but only in private. It’s still Director May in front of the rest of the agents.”

Daisy was speechless from May actually giving her permission to move to a first-name basis. Smirking, May thought, _Good. Caught her by surprise that time._

They finally pulled in to the clinic’s parking lot.  It had taken them nearly four hours to drive here, but supposedly the doctor here was the best there was when it came to difficult and high-risk pregnancies.

Walking in the door, May went to sign in while Daisy found seats for them to wait. May came back a moment later with a clipboard full of medical questions to fill out.

Thirty minutes later, she had finally finished, and went to sit back down. By the time they called her back they had already been at the clinic nearly an hour and fifteen minutes, and May was fuming.

They took her vitals and left her waiting again for the doctor to come in. At least when the woman did show up, she had already read May’s chart and knew what issues concerned her.

“So, Susan (May’s alias for this outing) I see that you are 50 years old and pregnant.  I assume that combination would be the main reason you came to see me.”

“Yes.” May was nervous, and trying her best not to let Daisy see it.

“I’ve read up on your symptoms.  Dizziness, nausea, etc. All normal.  The frequency of those should start to die down soon based on how far along you think you are in your pregnancy. Now I’ll do a physical examination to ensure everything is fine, and since it’s still early we can usually see a better picture on a vaginal ultrasound than a standard one.  Is that ok with you?”

“Yes.” _I guess it has to be._

“Now will your daughter be staying or going for the ultrasound?”

May looked at Daisy and raised her eyebrows in question. “Oh, I’m definitely staying. There’s no way I would miss this.”

After about five minutes of being poked and prodded in places she didn’t even realize she had, the doctor turned to May and had a large clamp in one hand and a long wand in the other.

“Fuck.” May whispered in frustration as the doctor began. _She could’ve at least warmed up her stuff first._

“Careful, that’s what got you into this predicament in the first place.” May rolled eyes at Daisy and the doctor laughed.

“Don’t encourage her,” May said.

“Ok, well let’s just see what we’ve got here then.” May and Daisy had no idea what they were looking at, but the doctor seemed to know where she was headed. “Ah ha! There we go.  Looks like you were about right on the conception date.  I’d say you’re at 9 or 9 ½ weeks judging by what I’m seeing.”

Daisy and May still had no idea what they were looking at, but the doctor froze the image on the screen and started pointing out the baby’s head and body. As she pointed out features, they had a clearer idea of what they were seeing. She shifted the view again and turned it back to live view. “You ready to hear the heartbeat?” she asked as she flipped a switch.

Tears sprang to Melinda’s eyes immediately when she heard it, and Daisy had a large dopey grin on her face.

Once May had been given permission to sit up the doctor started speaking. “So, Susan, from what I can tell you are in perfect physical health. That means you haven’t really got much to worry about other than your age.  What I want to do, with your permission of course, is to take an amniotic sample and run tests for markers of genetic anomalies.  I don’t see anything to point us there, but I’d rather be safe than sorry at your age. If all goes well with that, I won’t make you come back for three months.  I’ll just follow up with your regular doctor when you have appointments there. Sound good?”

\----------

The two women arrived back at base later that night, and went to check on the progress of the dwarves. Since there was still no luck on decrypting the password, they went to bed. May was feeling sick and sore from a day of driving and being prodded like cattle. Daisy was still staring at the printed sonogram picture in amazement.

May was laying on her back staring at the ceiling with one hand over her stomach, lost deep in thought. _Phil would be so happy right now. He’d say something ridiculously corny about being parents or buy the baby a Captain America onesie. Or suggest we name it Steve if it’s a boy. There’s no way I can be a parent alone. I need him to balance me out…._

_There’s been no sign of him. We don’t know where to look. Realistically, I only have about eight or ten weeks before I will have to stop going in the field after him. We have to find him before then.  I can’t send Daisy after him by herself.  Maybe if we get Mack and Yo-yo back they could go with her. But then that still leaves me stuck at base._

_Don’t worry about it now, focus on the positives. Healthy baby. Daisy is back. I may not have Coulson, but I have a part of him with me until I find him._

Slowly she drifted off to sleep, mental pictures of him holding a sleeping baby easing her insecurities.

\----------

Sometime in the middle of the night, Melinda had woken up to Daisy laying her head on her ribcage and gently placing a hand on her stomach.  May kept up the façade of being asleep to keep from disturbing Daisy.

A moment or two later May could just barely hear Daisy as she started to speak. “Hey, there.  This is kind of weird that I’m talking to you since I don’t even know if you have ears yet.”

_Daisy is talking to the baby?_

“I’m Daisy, your super cool big sister. Our family is a little crazy right now, but we’re working on that. I know you’ve still got a long time before you make your entrance, and I promise I’ll do my best to have both of our parents here by the time that happens.  I think our mom is worried she won’t be very good at being a parent, but I know she can do it. My real mom, well, I won’t bore you with details, but your mom has been better to me than anybody else in the world.  I think she’s worried about things that have happened in the past. She doesn’t always see the best in herself and I think she’s afraid to do this parenting thing alone. What she doesn’t realize is that she’s never going to be alone. I’ll be right here, even if we don’t find Coulson in time. He’s your dad by the way. Don’t get me started on him.  He is a big nerd, but in a loveable way.  The two of them together? They’re unstoppable. They’ve saved me and your Uncle Fitz and Aunt Jemma more times than we can even count. I love you already, baby.”

Daisy laid there for another minute or so before slowly sliding back up to her pillow and laying down. As soon as she was back in her normal position, she realized Melinda was looking directly at her. “Seriously? How long have you been awake?”

May looked at Daisy. “Since the beginning.”

Daisy sighed in frustration, and covered her head with the blanket.

“Daisy? Did you mean what you said? Do you think I can do it?” May asked in a small, timid voice.

She pulled the blanket back down, and looked at Melinda. “I know we are going to find Coulson, but if we don’t in time, I know you can. You’ve been a great mother to me,” Daisy snuggled up to May and wrapped her arms around the older agent.

May returned the hug and gently gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head.

Feeling emboldened by the girl’s speech to her unborn, and maybe a little over emotional from the hormones, May took a chance on something she had been wanting to say to Daisy for ages, “I love you, Daisy.”

“See? You’re already on the right track for motherhood.”

Melinda gave a small smile in response.

\----------

After her normal bout of morning sickness, May went to meet with Daisy who had decided to dedicate herself to unlocking the dwarves. _Fitzsimmons could’ve done this in no time. They should’ve known that we wouldn’t be able to get into something this advanced._

Hearing her approach, Daisy whirled around, drone in hand. “May, I think I have an idea. It’s a little crazy, but it might work. Fitz and you worked closely in the Framework, experimenting on Inhumans right?”

“I’m not proud of it, but yes.”

“Well Simmons knows more about the GH-325 than anybody else in the world, and Fitz has done more research on Inhuman DNA than most, so what if they came up with a biological key with a combination of the two. I am the only person in the world with those two sets of genetic markers. What if I am somehow the key to opening them?”

Melinda considered this for a moment. “So what you’re saying is that you think specific properties in your blood are the key to opening the dwarves?”

“Well I’d have to work with the scientists to know if that’s plausible, but I think so. My genetic sequence would be a unique password only the two of them could put together.”

She was impressed with Daisy’s theory. “You’re running point on this Daisy. Keep me updated on how it goes.”

\----------

Daisy came bursting in the director’s office as May was finishing some paperwork less than two hours later. “We did it!”

“You got the dwarves open?” Melinda asked, surprised they had done it so quickly.

“All it took was a blood sample from me, and the science team was able to use it to open them. The proteins and things in my blood were the key. The science team told me all of the technical babble, but it didn’t make much sense. Something about genetic sequencing and some other stuff.” Daisy took May’s tablet and was tapping the screen in rapid succession.

“So what was in them, Daisy?” May asked quickly.

“Coordinates and a location within each building.” As she said the word, a map of Russia popped up on the wall screen, showing several points in and around the Moscow and St. Petersburg areas. “I did some checking and there is a facility of some type at each location, but the one with the most activity is this one.” Daisy zoomed in to show a large building on the outskirts of Moscow. She looked at May and smiled, “I think they’re there now, but it looks they may have been moved around a few times, which explains the multiple locations they sent.”

Melinda was proud of all the girl had accomplished in short order. “We need to do some recon, and then go from there. I want to make sure we have the correct location before we go.”

\----------

They had gotten proof that Fitzsimmons were there and made the plans three days ago, but Daisy was still trying to argue Melinda’s decision. “You can’t go on a dangerous rescue mission! What if something happens to you? Do you think Coulson would let you go if he were here?”

May had ice in her voice and fire in her eyes when she answered, “As Acting Director of SHIELD, it is my duty to ensure the safety of my agents. I am a highly trained specialist, and am completely capable of handling this mission.  Coulson would not agree, but he’s not here.”

Daisy wouldn’t give up easily, “Well I would think in these circumstances that you would reconsider going into the field!”

May had had just about enough.  She had been through this a hundred times already. “Do you think if I wasn’t pregnant that you would have a problem with me going? I know I need to be more cautious!”

“But you are pregnant! Anything can happen in the field! What if you get shot? Or captured? What happens then?”

May sighed heavily. “Look. I know I need to be careful. I know the risk. I also know that if I send a team in there that doesn’t come back with both Fitz and Simmons, then we risk losing them.  I know what I stand to lose, but I won’t let them pay the price for me not going after them. You would make the same decision, so I don’t want to hear any more about this.”

She walked out of her office and went to change for the gym. Feeling more like her old self also meant she was in the mood to train again.

May had just started her warm-up when Daisy walked in, apparently feeling the urge to work out some frustrations, too.

Daisy rolled her eyes and walked to a punching bag on the opposite side of the gym, clearly annoyed at Melinda.

A few minutes later May finally spoke, “I’ll make a deal with you: beat me in hand-to-hand, I’ll just drive the quinjet, but if I win, I go on the mission, no more whining or arguing.”

Daisy walked over, “Are you kidding? You want me to fight you? You’re pregnant! I could hurt you!”

May waited until Daisy had finished her rant and then kicked the girl’s legs from beneath her.

Winded and laying on the ground Daisy panted, “Oh, it’s like that?” and sprang up and threw a punch which Melinda easily avoided. The two sparred hard for several minutes, neither one of them managing to land a winning blow. Punches and kicks were being thrown around, and May waited until Daisy finally got frustrated and made too wide of a swing. Instead of avoiding her arm, May swiftly caught it and used the girl’s own momentum to flip her onto the ground. May quickly had the advantage and was straddling Daisy within a fraction of a second to pin her down. Stopping just short of punching the girl in the nose, it was obvious Melinda May was still fully capable of handling herself in combat.

Out of breath from the long battle, May kept her position on top of Daisy and said “I’ll be careful. If it will make you feel better, I’ll wear a Kevlar vest. That’s the agreement Coulson would make.”

\----------

Melinda hadn’t been sleeping well the last few nights, and tonight was no exception. They would finally execute their plan to rescue Fitzsimmons in the morning, after more than a week of planning, and May was more nervous than she cared to admit. _God, I wish Phil were here. He would know what to say to prep me for this mission. Hell, he would know what to say to Daisy to prep her, too_.  Daisy had been comparatively distant since their sparring match, and Melinda often awoke from nightmares of Katya or losing Coulson. She didn’t want to bother Daisy during the night, so she usually just laid awake thinking of her dreams and hoping they would be able to find Coulson soon. _I’ll be 12 weeks in just four days. That’s a third of the way. I can’t do this alone!!_

Somehow, she must’ve fallen asleep because she was suddenly being awakened by Daisy leaving the bed.  Looking at her watch, she realized she needed to be up, too. They managed to spend the three hours before they left base without speaking to each other, but May finally found Daisy in a rare moment alone and pulled her off for a private word.

“Look, I know you’re worried about me, but I will be fine.  Our focus has got to be getting them out. If we get distracted and leave without one or both, I have no doubts that they will be killed. So, focus on the mission, not on me.”

“I still don’t see why you have to go! We are capable of bringing them ba…”

 May interrupted, “You don’t see it? I don’t see how you can’t! Especially after the last month. Our team, you are my family. I can’t run the risk of letting something happen to those two, just like I can’t run the risk of something happening to you. I may be pregnant, but you should know by now it’s not only biology that makes you a family! I will put myself on the line for every one of you.”

Skye sighed. “It’s not just you that you have to worry about now. Do what you want, but know that I disagree.”

May nodded at Daisy before pulling her into a quick embrace. “I’m sorry you disagree, but I’ll be careful. But you have to be careful, too. This is your first mission out in the field since you’ve been back.  Keep on your toes.”

\----------

It seemed like they had been in the quinjet for an eternity.  May had brought along another pilot since the jet was to hover in stealth mode and hide in the sky for close to an hour before landing at the rendezvous point to pick them up.  They were somewhere just outside of Moscow when Daisy started hacking the security system to override the cameras at the facility.  It was mostly underground: only two stories were above ground with at least 15 more below the surface based on their intel, and they would have limited time to get in and out. May had intentionally picked a night-time start for their plan.  It was easier to hack security cameras and loop them if the halls were clear.  From what they could piece together from Fitzsimmons’ clues, they were each being held in separate cells about twelve stories below the surface when they weren’t “researching” in the lab for the Russians.

She heard Daisy from behind her, “Got it. I’m recording the empty hallways now.”

May took her cue to address the pilot. “Ok, take us in and drop us on the roof.” It was going to be May, Daisy, and two other agents going in.  “Make sure you keep out of range of their guns. They’re triggered by visual cues, so if we stay up and in stealth mode we can hopefully get out unnoticed. Meet us at the rendezvous point in an hour.”

The team quickly slid down to the roof over 100 feet below them. Once they released their clips, May gave the signal to the pilot to go. “Daisy? Are we ready with the cameras? Security guards and everything?”

After a moment’s consultation of her tablet, “Yep. Cut it.”

One of the other agents used the Mouse Hole to cut out the hinges of the door so they could get in.  May adjusted her uniform and lightweight Kevlar vest to make sure she was protected before they went in. Daisy saw and a look of worry suddenly flashed on her face, but she recovered quickly when May shook her head almost imperceptibly.

They went in, May in the lead. The guard they knew to expect came around the corner, and Melinda quickly Iced him. One of the male agents dragged him to the corner. Now they headed to the elevator halfway down the hallway. “Daisy?”

                Studying the tablet, she held up one finger to s23WZignal she wasn’t quite ready. “Ok, now!”

They managed to time it correctly to meet a guard coming up, so they could take his elevator down. After the guard was Iced and moved out of the way, the team of four rode down to 12B, where Fitzsimmons had indicated they were being held. May gave her Kevlar vest another tug to ensure it covered her lower abdomen.  They had so far had great luck with everything going according to plan, but the hard part was coming up.

Once Daisy had directed them out of the elevators and down the hallway, it was time for them to split up. Daisy and one agent were going after Fitz and May and the other agent were going after Simmons.

May spoke to address the team, “Ok. Everyone knows the plan. Meet here in 15, unless anything goes wrong.”

After they split, May and her additional agent went to the end of the hallway through the door next to the stair case. She could tell immediately they were close. All the doors here were steel re-enforced with a slot in the middle, and a small window just above it.

The hallway was lit, but the rooms were dark inside. Shining her flashlight through the windows as she went, she hoped Daisy had made her way to the other set of cells and was searching for Fitz now. She was searching for Jemma as the alarm went off. _Damn! They know we’re here!_

May sent the other agent to check the other end of the hallway, and work his way towards her. She checked three more rooms before the other agent called, “Director! I’ve got her!”

He was already cutting through the door as May sprinted down the hall to him. Once he was able to pull the door off, May shined her light in and saw a relatively unharmed, if tired and gaunt, Jemma sitting on the bed. Relief flooded through May when she and Jemma made eye contact.

“May! I’m so glad to see you!” she exclaimed as she rushed to the door.

“I know, Jemma. We have to go. Daisy is getting Fitz.”

“Daisy is here, too? Oh, what a relief!”

May grabbed the girl’s arm and started ushering her to the doorway. They were at the end of the hallway and had started up the staircase when May heard the first shot, as she simultaneously saw the male agent with her fall. She pushed Simmons up the last few steps to the middle landing so she wouldn’t be hit with any of the bullets that were continually flying through the doorway. May turned and took out their attackers with her own gun. She felt the hot stickiness of blood soaking through her sleeve and looked down. She had been hit, but it seemed the bullet had gone straight through. _God, she’ll never let me live this down._

Melinda turned and continued up the stairs, dragging Simmons to her feet as she went. She pushed the girl ahead of her as they continued up the stairs.  They were both winded after a couple of flights, but May kept pushing Simmons and telling her to hurry.  The contingency plan had been to use the ground floor exits as soon as possible to make their way to the rendezvous point instead of trying to meet inside.

May and Simmons had just stepped out of the building and were gulping the cool fall air. May wavered for a second and noticed her arm was still bleeding freely. She had probably left a very noticeable trail based on how much blood was dripping off her finger tips. The guards were going to be just a few seconds behind them.

At that moment, Daisy, Fitz and the third agent burst out of the second exit several hundred feet to their right.

May nodded to them and grabbed Simmons’ arm. “Come on, Jemma! Nearly there!”

They had to sprint the third of a mile to the tree line where the jet was waiting for them, and the gunfire started nearly as soon as they started running.  Thankfully their enemies didn’t have automatic weapons, but they could still hear the bullets whirring past. Daisy’s group got to the quinjet first and were all sprinting up the ramp when they heard a different shot. It sounded to May like a sniper rifle, and she noticed the bark of a tree to their right explode when the bullet made contact.

May knew they still had at least 100 or 110 more feet before they were in the jet. She could hear Fitz and Daisy yelling for them to hurry.  May heard the shot again, and suddenly pitched forward,  landing hard on the ground. She knew she had been hit, but her body couldn’t figure out where; it had happened too fast. She could hear Daisy screaming her name, but either the hit or the fall had taken all her breath. Trying to push herself up, May’s injured arm gave out on her and she couldn’t move. She felt the ground start to shake. She wasn’t sure if it was Daisy using her abilities on their attackers or the jet’s engines preparing for takeoff. Suddenly familiar hands grabbed her by her good arm and dragged her to her feet. Daisy was forcing her to move toward the jet. May could still hardly breathe or move, but Daisy managed to get her to a seat and instruct the pilot to take off.

May was finally starting to get her breath back, but everything around her felt like it was spinning. _Probably blood loss_.

Simmons was cutting her shirt sleeve to get to the bullet wound on her arm and apply pressure.  Daisy was forcing her to lean forward to look for a bullet wound from the sniper round. Melinda still hadn’t gotten enough of her breath back to speak, and Daisy was frantic. Daisy heaved a huge sigh of relief, “May it got you in the vest. I think you’ll be ok.”

Barely able to speak May, uttered a few words at a time, “I… told you… that… would… be fine.”

Simmons spoke up next from next to her as she applied pressure to the gunshot wound on her bicep, “If we keep pressure on the wound, it will stop the bleeding. It’ll hurt for quite some time as the muscle heals where the bullet ripped through, but it’s not life threatening.”

May nodded and started trying to take off her vest. Her breathing was getting better, but she needed the damn thing off.

Melinda could hear the continuing fire from the ground as well as the return fire from the quinjet. Thankfully, a few moments later they had finally made it to clear airspace and gone back into stealth mode.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team is mostly back together. Just a warning, more May and Daisy fluff in this chapter.

Once they had made it back to base, May insisted that Fitz and Simmons get a full medical check. While she waited, she went back to her office to have a moment alone since Simmons had managed to stitch her wounds on the long ride back to base.

She wished Phil was here to wrap her in his comforting embrace. Laying a hand gently across her stomach, Melinda’s heart ached with longing; to tell Phil about all that had happened and ask him how she had been the only one spared in the diner. She wanted him to know about the baby and see the excitement spread across his face. A few tears slid down her face, and she forced herself to stop worrying. The more of her team she assembled, the better chance they had to find Coulson. She had finally sat gingerly on the couch when Daisy burst through the door.

May didn’t even look the younger agent in the eye, but cut her off before she could start speaking, “I know what you’re going to say, but save it.”

The answering voice, was softer and more concerned than the angry, scolding tone she had expected to hear. “May, you had me terrified. I thought I was going to lose you.”

Looking up, she saw that Daisy was not angry, but was instead nearly trembling with fear. “Daisy, other than my arm, I’m just a bit bruised. I’ll heal. If it makes you feel better though, I’m going to see if Simmons can do a full work up when she has been cleared by medical.”

“It does make me feel better actually.” Daisy said as she walked over and eased herself down on the couch next to May. Careful to avoid Melinda’s injured arm and bruised back, Daisy gently hugged her, and then laid her head on May’s lap.

May gently stroked Daisy’s hair until the intercom buzzed, and an agent alerted her to Fitz and Simmons being done with the med staff.

“Alright, Daisy, let’s go see them.”

Walking briskly down the hallway they made their way into the medical wing and were greeted by the staff member who had cleared Fitzsimmons. May stopped to hear his report as Daisy continued down the hallway to find the two scientists.

“Report?” May asked in her commanding voice.

The other agent responded quickly, “It seems that both Agents Fitz and Simmons are relatively unharmed. There are some bruises, and they’re slightly malnourished, but otherwise ok.”

Keeping up her icy persona for a short while longer, May responded, “Thank you, Agent. I’ll expect your full written report on my desk shortly.”

After he left her, she breathed a sigh of relief, but had to stop short due to the pain in her back. She was starting to suspect the impact of the bullet hitting her vest had cracked a rib. _Thank God, they’re ok._ She placed a protective hand over her stomach. _Thank God, we’re ok._

She continued down the hall and walked in the room she had seen Daisy enter. As soon as she was through the doorway, Simmons slammed into her and had her in an embrace before Melinda knew what was happening.

Melinda quickly returned the hug, and whispered, “I’m so glad we’ve found you.” She spoke a bit louder with her next breath, “I’m so glad we found both of you,” as she held Jemma with one arm and grabbed Fitz’s hand with the other.

Jemma finally pulled back with a tear rolling down her face.

May smiled gently at her and wiped the tear away with her thumb. She could see the shock on Simmons’ face at her motherly gesture, and instructed the two scientists to sit down. She and Daisy began to tell the two scientists what had happened in the last weeks, with no mention of May’s pregnancy or Daisy’s torture on The Raft.

Fitz and Simmons listened intently, analyzing all they could of the story. They had been held somewhere before the Russians got them, but they did not know where.  It was another lab of some kind, and as long as they were researching and producing results, they were unharmed. Thankfully the Russians held to the same policy. They had been researching space travel and wormholes similar to those created during the Convergence, and running simulations to estimate how traveling through them may affect the human body. Thankfully, they had produced just enough results to keep their captors happy, while not revealing too much of their knowledge on the subject.

Once they had all caught up, Daisy looked pointedly at May.

Melinda rolled her eyes and braced herself for their reactions. She was nervous about how they would react, since she didn’t want to overwhelm them on their first day back at base. “And there’s something else I have to tell you. Of course, we still want to find Mack and Yo-yo, but this particular news puts finding Coulson on a time limit.”

The two agents were looking at May with puzzled looks on their faces. She inhaled as deeply as she could without causing any more pain in her back, “I’m pregnant.”

Looks of shock covered both their faces. Simmons recovered first and started speaking excitedly, “May, that’s wonderful! How far along are you? Were you pregnant while you were in the Framework? Oh, we need to do a full work up. Do you have a doctor?”

She would’ve kept going, but Fitz interrupted, “And you came out in the field after us? I don’t think that was a great idea. What if you’d been hurt worse trying to save us?” Jemma’s smile dropped a bit.

Daisy took this as her cue to jump in, “Thank you, Fitz! That’s exactly what I tried to tell her.”

May immediately went on the defensive, “Look. I made a decision and I know you all likely don’t agree, but it’s over and done now, so I don’t want to hear another word about it. My team was in danger, and I did what needed to be done to bring you home.”

Simmons spoke up, “Well while it was a very noble thing to do, I would feel better if I could check you over and make sure you’re alright now that this new information has been brought to light.”

May looked at her and responded with a small smile, “I would expect nothing less, Jemma.”

\----------

Daisy had refused to leave during her exam, but Fitz had tactfully taken his leave to go find something to eat and put fresh sheets on his and Simmons’ bed. Simmons had started by examining May’s very bruised back. The round had hit her about halfway up and several inches to the right of her spine. Simmons told her it had not cracked a rib after all, but had badly bruised her back and rib cage.

After placing a clean dressing on May’s injured arm, Simmons instructed May to lay back and prepared for an ultrasound. “Now how many weeks are you?”

“Nearly twelve.”

“Oh, how exciting! The second trimester is usually easier than the first.” Jemma began moving the wand over May’s exposed stomach, a look of concentration on her face as she studied the screen.

May had been nervous to see the ultrasound, but once Simmons turned the screen around, she grinned broadly. This time, she didn’t need any help distinguishing the features on the screen, but Simmons was pointing them out anyway. As she wiped the gel off May’s stomach with a towel she said, “Well, May, I’m not an obstetrician, but as far as I can tell you’re both healthy! Are you having any symptoms like morning sickness or fatigue?”

Before she could respond, Daisy snorted in response.

“I’ll take that as a yes then,” Simmons said. “The morning sickness should start to clear up soon, but remember you’re growing a new person, so you need to ensure your caloric intake is at the right level to keep you both healthy throughout the pregnancy. I notice you do look a little gaunt, but with all that’s going on, I suppose that’s normal.”

May nodded.

“Now I assume you’re still training and working out?”

May nodded again.

“Well that’s completely fine. You’re in great shape, but keeping active throughout the pregnancy will make delivery easier when the time comes.”

“Thanks, Jemma,” May said with a small smile. “Now, you and Fitz are under orders to rest and eat.  When you’re ready to return to work, let me know. We have all been through hell with the Framework, and then all of this that followed, so take your time.”

Daisy looked between Jemma and May and said, “I don’t know about you two, but I think once we get the team back together, we deserve a vacation.”

\----------

“NO!” May screamed as she sat upright in the bed in a panic.  She had been having nightmares about Phil’s death for the last three weeks, and they were slowly increasing in frequency and severity. They were usually different each night, but the last three nights she had been re-living the day Fury had told her about his death during the Battle of New York.

Poor Daisy had been putting up with her nightmares and was now an expert at calming her down. May immediately felt Daisy’s arms wrap around her and her heartrate instantly began to slow. She wrapped Daisy in a tight embrace as a few tears snuck past her defenses.

“Mom, you’ve got to stay positive. We don’t know where he is, but you said yourself, he wouldn’t have been killed.”

May nodded as she slowly released Daisy, and shakily said, “I know. It’s probably just the hormones.”

Making a mental note to ask Simmons if nightmares were common during pregnancy, Melinda got up to splash some cool water on her face to clear the last bit of the dream from her mind. When she got back in bed, Daisy was already asleep again, but the girl must’ve sensed her presence as she cuddled right up next to her within a moment. Melinda then realized that Daisy had called her “Mom” in her sleepy haze.  She doubted that Daisy would even remember it in the morning, since she had been half asleep when she said it. May rolled to her side to face Daisy, and gently pushed the hair off the girl’s face before lightly kissing her forehead.

Melinda whispered softly to keep from waking the girl up, “Thank you, Daisy. For making me feel like I might have a chance at being a decent parent after all.”

May tried to get back to sleep, but her mind kept wandering. She was 16 weeks and two days pregnant. They were all looking for any sign of the rest of their team, but had so far not had any luck. She knew she only had about another five or six weeks at the most before she would have to consider stepping back from field work. In the last couple of weeks, she had noticed her stomach was no longer flat; she had a slight bump forming and her clothes were starting to fit tighter than usual. No one other than Daisy, Fitz, and Simmons knew her secret yet, but the time was soon approaching where she would have to tell the rest of her team.

Her thoughts turned to Phil and how she would tell him she was pregnant. She had imagined it a thousand times, in a thousand different ways. _If we don’t find him soon, I won’t have to tell him at all._ Her finger tips absent mindedly traced her stomach as she was lost in thought. _Soon, he’ll be able to tell before I even get to open my mouth to speak._

Daisy shifted in her sleep, and May saw a frown forming on the girl’s face. She gently reached out and put a hand on Daisy’s back, which helped ease the frown. Melinda knew Daisy still had the occasional nightmare, as well, but there were fewer of them now. Daisy was a strong young woman, and May was proud of how far she had come since they first brought her to SHIELD. Daisy shifted again and was laying on her side just a few inches away from Melinda. She was still studying Daisy’s face as the girl began to wake up.

Daisy slowly opened her eyes and noticed May staring at her. Groggily she said, “What’s with all the staring?”

May looked away and responded, “Nothing. Just… thinking.” She was still absentmindedly running her fingers across her stomach.

Daisy saw what she was doing and knew at least half of what she was thinking. “We’ll find him before the baby is born. Don’t get discouraged; we have time, Mom.”

May turned her head to look at Daisy again, and smirked. “What’d you say?”

Daisy’s eyes got wide as she realized what she called May. “Sorry… I didn’t… I… Sorry.”

May rolled over and smiled at her. “It’s fine. I needed that. You did it during the night, too.”

“No, I don’t think I did.” Daisy was very flustered.

“Daisy, I promise it’s fine.” May moved her arm to allow Daisy to get closer to her. Once Daisy had put her head on May’s shoulder and draped an arm around her, Melinda spoke again, “I woke up in that diner, completely alone, and all of my worst fears had come true. I had let you all into my life, and started to think of you as family. Then I had lost all of you, had no idea where any of you were. I was so relieved when I found you and was finally able to rescue you.”

Squeezing Daisy tighter for just a brief moment, she continued, “When I found out I was pregnant, all I wanted was to tell Phil and have him reassure me that I could do this, that WE could do this. What I didn’t realize at first was that you have been teaching me how to be a parent since we brought you on the Bus during our first mission.”

Melinda could feel a lump forming in her throat, either out of nervousness or emotion she couldn’t tell. “I should’ve known fairly early how much I cared for you actually. Did you know that I beat the shit out of Quinn after he shot you?”

Daisy shook her head.

“Well that should’ve been my first clue. I couldn’t control my emotions and it was a vicious attack. I thought he deserved to die, and I had every intention of making it happen. I went in and beat him. Repeatedly. I wouldn’t have stopped if Coulson hadn’t stepped in. You calling me Mom without even realizing it, that makes me feel like maybe I can be a parent to this baby. She will grow up knowing I’m her mother, while you had to learn to think of me that way. I’ll need help, and I still have moments of doubt, but without you, I would’ve probably been too stressed to function or would’ve just crawled into a hole and tried to forget that I exist. I guess what I’m trying to say is, thank you for saving me from myself.” May had even surprised herself with her confession, and she sat in silence for a few seconds while Daisy processed all that she had heard.

Daisy pulled back just enough to allow her to look at May’s face. “Ya know,” she started, “for the longest time I thought you were this intimidating robot with hardly any feelings.”

May frowned slightly. This was not the reaction she expected.

“No, wait, just hear me out,” Daisy continued. “I know now that it was all a front. You care more deeply about us than I think we can ever imagine. I may have been terrified of you because I knew you could grind me to pulp if you wanted to, but I was in awe of that, too. I’m sure you’ve figured it out, but while we are being sappy, I might as well throw it out there. I know how excited I was to find Jiaying, but the more I got to know her, the more disappointed I became.”

May could feel the tears welling behind her eyes and attempted to stop the girl, “Daisy.”

“No, let me finish. I still can’t believe I blindly followed her and turned my back on you, and used my powers to slam you to the ground. I let the thought of the unknown blind me to the mother I already had right in front of me.”

As she finished, Daisy laid her head back on May’s shoulder and the two lay in companionable silence for a few moments before Daisy spoke again, “I love you,” after a slight pause she whispered the last word, “Mom.”

Melinda felt the breath catch in her throat. Unable to respond she squeezed Daisy tightly. They laid in bed for quite a while before May convinced Daisy to get up for Tai Chi.

\----------

Melinda was nearly ready to give up for the day. She had been staring at one useless report after another for hours. There was only one thing keeping her from quitting, _Phil._ Squeezing her eyes shut she conjured up an image of his face. _Phil, I’m 20 weeks pregnant today. We’re running out of time_. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and saw Fitz standing in the doorway.  He had been acting weird around her ever since he came back, but was almost back to normal around Simmons and Daisy. She didn’t know if it was the pregnancy or something else that was making him behave this way.

“Fitz?” she asked.  He had a strange look on his face and answered in his usual, awkward way.

“May, I… Well… I need… Can we talk?” he questioned. She gestured to the chair across from her at the desk, and he sat gingerly on the edge of the seat.

Silently she waited for him to begin. “Well now, May, keep in mind, I have no proof, but there were reports of a massive neutrino surge five months ago, right around the date we were in the diner. It was similar to the readings Dr. Jane Foster recorded when Thor first arrived on Earth and what we saw during the Convergence. Everyone in the world wanted to take us down. But you know one thing we never considered was people from other worlds may want that, too.”

Her heart dropped as she realized he was right. After all, Simmons had been sucked through a stone to an alien planet for six months, there was no doubt that Coulson being carried to space was an option.

“May, we have no proof, but I think it might be a viable hypothesis,” he continued.

She couldn’t breathe. She gripped the edge of her desk with such force that her knuckles were white. Her head was spinning. Fitz was still talking, but she couldn’t process what he was saying.

_Oh, God. The whole universe? How are we going to find him? There’s no way…._

Her thoughts continued to race and she knew they wouldn’t find him in time.

Wrapping her arms around her barely rounded stomach she said, “I can’t. I can’t do it alone. We aren’t going to find him before I have the baby.”

She didn’t realize she had spoken out loud until Fitz was kneeling beside her, and gently put a hand on her chair to turn her to face him.

“May, you are the strongest person I know. And you won’t be alone,” he said softly in his Scottish brogue.

Eyes wide, she looked at him. If he was surprised to see the panic in her eyes, he didn’t show it.  “No,” she whispered. Trying to swallow the lump in her throat, she looked away. “Fitz, how do we look for him?”

“I’m not sure yet, May. But I will do everything in my power to find him. Our team has been broken for long enough.”

Melinda nodded slightly as she closed her eyes. “Trashcan.”

“What?” Fitz asked. She couldn’t open her mouth to answer, so she pointed in the general direction of the can, and Fitz caught on to what she needed and quickly slid the can into place as she fell to her knees and wretched. She was propped on the rim of the can trying to get her breath back, and she felt Fitz’s hand gently come to rest on her back.

“We won’t let you do this alone, May.”

She nodded and looked at Fitz, noticing for the first time that he looked much older than before the Framework. His time there had scarred him, probably as bad as Bahrain had scarred her.

“Thank you, Fitz.” She pushed the trashcan away and prepared to pull herself up on the edge of the desk. Her stomach may not be large yet, but it was certainly affecting her movements and dexterity already.

Fitz leapt to his feet and held out his hands to Melinda and helped her to her feet.

When she was standing, Fitz spoke softly, eyes on the floor, “I’m sorry for upsetting you, but I know if it were Jemma missing, I would want to know.”

May nodded and continued to study Fitz’s face as he spoke. She could see the pain and guilt he was trying to hide, and spoke to him in a quiet, but firm voice, “Fitz, none of this was your fault. You know that right?”

He didn’t respond.

“I know it feels like the weight of the world is crushing you, but NONE of this was your fault. Everything that happened in the Framework was someone else. You were being manipulated. We all were.”

She took a step closer to him, and he still refused to meet her eyes.

“Don’t make the mistake I did and shut everyone out. It may not feel like it now, but you need people. It’s the only way to heal.”

She gently put a hand on each of his shoulders and only then did he look up.

With a small smile she said, “If you ever need company, come find me.”

She left him in her office with a stunned look on his face as she went to find Daisy.

\----------

May looked for Daisy for over an hour, but couldn’t find her. She ended up going to the lab to see if Daisy was with Simmons.

“Director May? Is everything alright?” Simmons seemed worried by the look she saw on May’s face.

“Is Daisy here, Jemma?” May tried to relax her face some from the hard scowl she knew was there.

“No. She isn’t. Is there something I can do for you?” Jemma still had a look of concern on her face. _Leave it to Simmons to always try to fix everything._

“I needed to talk to Daisy about another matter, but I need to talk to you, too. I guess it works out for the best that she’s not here.” May had been feeling funny for the last few days. Her stomach had been feeling jumpy and nervous. She didn’t know if she was coming down with something or if the stress was getting to her.

“What is it, May? You’re worrying me.” Leave it to Simmons to be overly concerned.

Melinda heaved a huge sigh, “Nothing, for sure. I’m probably just worrying over nothing. Although, after the revelation Fitz just dropped, it has been a bit worse.” There was no sense in lying or trying to downplay her concerns since Simmons wouldn’t be able to help her if she did.

Simmons led her to the exam room that stored all the obstetrical equipment that Simmons was hiding from the rest of the agency since May still had not announced her pregnancy. Hearing Melinda wasn’t feeling well had pushed Simmons into scientific mode. “What symptoms are you having?”

As she sat on the exam chair, Melinda started describing her concerns, “My stomach feels jumpy and nervous. It comes and goes. Almost like the morning sickness, but not to the point of nausea. Just… unsettled.” To her surprise, Jemma smiled.

“You’re 20 weeks today?” she asked gently. May nodded her response. “Well, May I think I know what’s happening, but let’s take a quick look and make sure.”

May laid back on the table and raised her loose top to give Jemma access to slight swell of her abdomen. “It’s worse when I get stressed or eat. It’s been pretty bad since Fitz told me his theory.”

Simmons had put gel on May’s stomach and was proceeding to press the wand down. “Well, I don’t think that’s that unusual. What about when you think of Coulson?”

Melinda hesitated a moment before answering. “A bit.” Jemma continued to grin as she studied the monitor before her. “Simmons, are you going to smirk at me all day or tell me what’s going on?”

“Well everything looks fine. Does you have that feeling right now?”

“Just periodically. It’s not as noticeable or frequent right now as it sometimes is.” Jemma grinned again before showing May the screen.

“Well I can tell you for sure that nothing is wrong. You’re just at the point in your pregnancy where you are starting to feel the baby as it moves around between naps.”

She must’ve had a look of surprise on her face because Jemma gently put a hand on May’s knee and smiled at the older woman. “You’re fine, May. I now it doesn’t seem like it with half our team missing, but it will be ok. You can be happy about this.”

\----------

 _Phil, what the hell am I supposed to do? How the hell will I find you in outer space? It’s been five months and I am struggling so much without you._ May was so lost in her one-sided conversation with Phil that she didn’t even realize where she was headed until suddenly she found herself walking into the garage where she had parked Lola. As she got closer, she noticed someone was sitting in the passenger’s seat slumped against the door.

“Daisy,” she whispered to wake up the girl.

Waking up and giving May a bleary-eyed stare, Daisy slowly sat up as May sat in the driver’s seat. “Hey. Sorry.”

May look at her in confusion. “For what?”

“I don’t know yet. You just have that look that you’re upset about something.”

 _Damnit. When did she learn to read me so easily?_ “Well, Fitz has a theory. It makes sense, but if anything, it raises more questions than it answers.” May continued and explained to Daisy what Fitz had told her earlier.

May could tell Daisy was back to her old, unflappable self. “Well, we will figure something out to find him and bring him home.” They sat in silence for a little while, both trying to feel as close to Phil as possible sitting in his most prized possession.

After about 10 minutes, Daisy broke the silence. “You know he would be pissed that we were both in here without him.”

May smirked at Daisy, knowing she was right. “You know he’s let me drive it before, right?”

Daisy looked at her hands, not wanting to meet Melinda’s gaze. “Yeah, your um… Your LMD told me.”

Melinda felt the smile fall her face. “Oh. Madrid, Taiwan, or Moscow?”

Daisy jerked her head up. “Only Madrid. You’ve driven Lola more than once?”

                May could feel the smirk returning to her features. “Well three times on missions, but Coulson and I have been friends for longer than you’ve been alive. Do you think I would only get to drive his car once every ten years?”

Daisy’s eyes widened a little in surprise “You’re lying.”

May’s smirk was getting bigger, “Nope.” She was enjoying teasing the girl. Even if it was just to put them both in a better mood.

Melinda felt the slight movements in her stomach start up again, and gently placed a hand over her growing baby. She couldn’t help feeling conflicted. She wanted to be excited and happy, and she had moments when she felt that way. Like today when Simmons had told her she was feeling the baby move around. But it was also hard to feel that way when the person she wanted to share it with most was lost in the cosmos somewhere and nightmares of Bahrain still plagued her.

 Of course, Daisy had picked up on the change in her mood and watched May for a moment before speaking. “I know you went to see Simmons earlier. Was everything ok?”

“You spying on me now?” May attempted to put some venom in her words, but failed. She knew Daisy was just concerned.

Daisy looked a little ashamed. “Sorry. I was monitoring the video feeds and saw you walk in to the lab. I was waiting on you to come out when I fell asleep.”

“I’m… we’re… fine. I was actually looking for you and decided at the last second to ask Simmons some questions.”

Daisy had that expectant look on her face, like she was waiting for May to continue.

Knowing she wasn’t going to get away with leaving details out, Melinda continued, “I have had some weird jitters in my stomach that I was concerned about.”

Daisy’s face flashed with concern, “But you’re both fine, right?”

“Yes, Daisy. I wouldn’t lie to you.”

Her face relaxed some, but she was still looking at May, waiting for the rest of the story.

“Turns out the baby is big enough now that I can feel her moving.”

The change in Daisy’s face was instantaneous. “OH! And did Simmons tell you the gender, too? You said ‘her’ and it’s not the first time I’ve heard you do that!” she said excitedly.

“Just a hunch.” Melinda said with a small grin. She didn’t want to share the details of the dream she had weeks ago that first gave her the clue she was pregnant. She was saving that for Phil when she saw him.

They were silent again, both reluctant to leave the garage. Daisy laid over and placed her head on May’s lap and spoke softly, “How’re we going to find him, May?”

Melinda was running her fingers softly through Daisy’s hair. “I wish I knew.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May sends Daisy on a solo mission. Three weeks later.

Being pregnant and also trying to run a Top Secret former governmental organization was wearing on Melinda. Between all of her duties at work and stress from their fruitless efforts to find Coulson, Mack, and Yo-yo, she was a wreck.

May awoke sometime during the night, unsure of what had awakened her. Reaching out, she realized Daisy was not in the bed next to her. She got up and pulled on a different shirt to better hide her stomach in case she ran into anyone in the hallways.

 Getting up was getting more difficult every day, as was hiding her pregnancy from the rest of SHIELD. Simmons had told her earlier this week that it was likely time to let everyone know, but Melinda couldn’t bring herself to even bring up the topic around anyone else.

Walking through the hallways, May finally found Daisy sitting in her office staring at the screen on the wall. Daisy had set it up to divide the screen into 16 different sections. Each one had either a variety of lines of code or security feeds, and she was studying them all with such intensity that it was slightly worrying.

“Daisy, what’re you doing in here in the middle of the night?” She walked over and eased herself down on the couch next to the girl, propping her feet on the coffee table in front of her.

Daisy didn’t even pull her focus from the screens, but eventually answered.

“Looking for them,” she answered tiredly.

“Have you even been to bed? It’s after three.” Daisy hadn’t been in the bed when Melinda had fallen asleep, but then again, she had been so tired she climbed into bed right after dinner.

Daisy finally turned to look at May, “No. We’re running out of time to find them. I made a promise to have Coulson back here before you have the baby, and I intend to keep it.”

Melinda felt like she had been gut-punched when she heard Daisy’s reasoning. _She shouldn’t be responsible for me._ “The only way to find them is to work together. You can’t monitor everything by yourself.”

“I know, but we have to find them.”

“Daisy, I want to find them all, too, but if you wear yourself out now, you’ll have no energy to do anything about it when we do find them. Come to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow. Or did you forget we’re going off base for my appointment?” Melinda knew if anything could convince Daisy to sleep, it would be that.

Daisy grunted and grumbled a “Fine,” under her breath.

Melinda smirked at the girl’s back as she followed her out of the office. _Maybe this parenting thing won’t be too bad_.

\----------

Melinda had received a good report from the doctor, and found out the baby was indeed a girl. On their way back to base, she was concerned with Daisy’s behavior. The entire car trip to and from the doctor’s office, Daisy had been so focused on reviewing government feeds on her tablet that she had hardly looked up.  When she did look up, it was only to check the time or their location.

May knew she needed to pull Daisy, and Fitz and Simmons for that matter, out of the trance they were in. All of them seemed to be working around the clock, trying to find the rest of their team. It was noticeably wearing on them all, with Fitzsimmons running on autopilot any time they were out of the lab, and Daisy focusing on her tablet or a variety of computer screens.

Melinda made a last-minute detour into the town closest to their base, and headed toward the Italian restaurant that they ordered from periodically. 

Daisy felt the car stop as they parked, “what’re we doing?”

“We have to eat. I’ll be right back.”

\----------

The duo arrived back at base shortly thereafter. Melinda headed to her office after instructing Daisy to gather Fitz and Simmons and meet her there for a dinner meeting. She had just finished laying out all of the food for everyone when the three younger agents walked in.

“May, what is this? Did you pick up dinner for us?” Simmons asked gratefully.

“Very kind of you, Director.” Fitz said softly.

Arching her back slightly to stretch, Melinda gestured for them to have a seat. She had placed each of their favorite dishes on the small coffee table in front of the couch, and they all sat and grabbed a plate.

Settling herself in Phil’s old armchair, Melinda grabbed her own plate of pasta, and pulled her legs underneath her. She gave the team a few minutes to get some food in them and ate a decent sized portion of her own food before addressing them. Putting her plate in her lap, she began: “It has come to my attention that you three are hardly eating and sleeping even less.”

She looked between the three of them in turn, keeping her face impassive. “I know we are on a mission and I have told you all that we are on a deadline to find the team, and…” she paused for a moment, debating with herself about what to say next. “I apologize for putting so much pressure on you.”

All three of them had been avoiding her gaze for the duration of her speech, but all three looked up and Simmons began to protest before Melinda held up a hand to silence her. “I know we all want to find Coulson, Mack, and Yo-yo, but if you three run yourselves ragged, you won’t be able to keep up with the search. This is a long process, and we need to make sure we are all at peak performance rather than being so tired that we can’t function.”

Then Fitzsimmons started to protest “But May, we aren’t going to find them if we don’t look…”

Daisy was staring at May, with wide eyes that were rimmed with tiredness.

“Guys.” She sighed in frustration. “Just take better care of yourselves. That’s a direct order. We need you guys on top of your game.” Before anyone had a chance to respond, May stood up and put her plate on the table. “I’m calling a meeting tomorrow afternoon to give the division heads an idea of where we stand. I need each of you to brief us on your progress and where all you have searched. Good night.”

She had just gotten back to her room and gotten ready for bed when she heard a knock at the door followed by Fitz’s voice. “May? Could I come in?”

She looked down and considered putting on another shirt over the tank top that fit snugly over her belly now. _It’s just Fitz, it will be fine._ Smoothing out the fabric of her shirt, she called, “Sure, Fitz.”

Fitz’s eyes immediately went to her stomach making her feel self-conscious about her decision, but she sat at the small table in the corner and gestured for him to join her. “What’s going on, Fitz?”

“Well, uh, I just wanted to let you know that I have been in contact with Jane Foster.  She is an expert in the field of astronomy and space wormholes, after all.”

May replied cautiously, “Ok.”

“She has agreed to come to the base to help us fill in the gaps and expand on what Simmons and I have learned so far. If Coulson really is in space, I think she may be able to help us. If not, she can potentially rule it out based on what she thinks happened five months ago with the neutrino surge I told you about.”

“Great. I’ll let you coordinate with Dr. Foster and set up a pilot to go pick her up. I’ll approve the request for the quinjet whenever you work it out with her.” May could tell by the look on Fitz’s face that there was something else behind his visit as well, and she waited for him to continue speaking.

Several long moments passed before Fitz finally spoke again, “How am I supposed to get through a night without reliving what happened in there, May? How did you get past Bahrain?”

May leaned back slightly in her chair to get more comfortable. “I’ll let you know when I do. The first year or so was the hardest.”

Fitz grimaced at her words. “Not exactly what I was hoping to hear, May.”

“I know. Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do to speed up the process. Seeing a shrink might help, but I don’t know how you feel about that. It wasn’t for me.” Placing a hand across her stomach, she immediately felt a tiny kick in response. She couldn’t hide the look of surprise that crossed her face.  

Fitz saw it and gave a tiny grin. “I’ll think about it, May. I’m very happy for you, if I haven’t said it yet. And I think if anybody can help us find Coulson, it will be Dr. Foster.”

“Thanks, Fitz.” She gave him a small smile before she stifled a yawn.

Fitz took that as his cue to leave. “Good night, May.”

“Make sure you stop and tell Daisy and Jemma to get some sleep as well. And Fitz,” she said as he was almost out the door. “It does get better. It helps if you have someone to lean on. I wish it hadn’t taken me so long to figure that out.” She gave him a pointed look and hoped he would take her hint to talk to Simmons.

He nodded his acknowledgement as he left.

\----------

Several days later, Melinda was in her office, once again surrounded by mountains of paperwork.  She had started locking the door to keep anyone from disturbing her since she had taken to propping on the couch to read her reports. Being pregnant meant being uncomfortable and having swollen ankles and feet, and Melinda was not ready for the rest of SHIELD to see her as anything less than the tough agent in charge. May figured a few of the female agents had started to suspect something since she had taken to wearing loose fitting tops under her blazer during working hours, and loose workout clothing the rest of the day. She had gotten too many lingering stares around the base to think she had gone completely unnoticed.

May was too lost in the latest report she had received to hear the knock on the door. Suddenly Daisy was standing in front of her, grinning broadly.

“How’d you get in?” May asked.

Daisy shrugged. “Quaked the lock. Guess who I just found?”

May’s heart skipped a beat and she sat up quickly.

“You found Phil?” She asked hopefully, but somehow, she knew she was wrong.

Daisy’s grin dropped slightly. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have worded it like that. I found Mack and Yo-yo, though.”

Melinda pushed past her disappointment and held out a hand to take the photos from Daisy, “It’s fine. Where are they?”

“A small town in Colombia. They both seem fine from what I can tell. I don’t know how they got there or where they were before, but it’s them. Kind of seems like they are being watched since we just so happened to get a perfect photo of the two of them from a cell phone camera.”

Looking at the image, May could tell it was definitely the two of them. And her mind quickly bounced some ideas around. Making a quick but calculated decision, she looked at Daisy. “You’re going in to get them.”

\----------

Within 36 hours May and Daisy had formed a plan.  Daisy would go in with only a pilot who would wait 5 miles outside the city while she went in to seek out Mack and Yo-yo. Then discreetly, she would give them the coordinates and time of extraction, and hope they were able to meet there before whomever was watching discovered they were leaving.

Daisy was already in bed and almost asleep when Melinda climbed into bed.  Daisy shifted to face Melinda and sleepily asked, “What’re we going to do when Coulson gets back?”

Still tossing and turning to find a comfortable position, May responded, “I guess we’ll have to get a bigger bed.” She heard Daisy snort in response. Finally, Melinda settled down and Daisy slid in closer and put a hand on May’s stomach. Now that she was nearly six months pregnant, the baby was squirming around more and more. Thankfully when Daisy spoke, it calmed the baby’s movement. Well, usually. Tonight, Daisy’s voice had the opposite effect.

“Woah, the kid is feisty today.” Daisy sounded slightly more alert now.

“Yeah, I know.” May responded dryly. Being pregnant was no easy task, and she was frustrated that she no longer had control of her body. It wasn’t all bad though. She grabbed Daisy’s wrist gently and moved her hand several inches to the left.

“This is crazy!” May smiled at the girl’s reaction. Daisy was always so amazed when she felt the baby move.  Melinda had to admit, it still caught her off guard, too. _God, I wish Phil was here. He would love this._

Melinda continued to move Daisy’s hands around slightly to help her keep up with the kicks and punches being thrown in her stomach. At some point she had become lost in her thoughts about Phil. _We are still running out of time. The end of the second trimester will be here shortly. Only a few short weeks and this kid will be making an appearance._

Suddenly, she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Daisy had noticed the change in Melinda almost instantaneously, and May heard her ask a question that she couldn’t process. Melinda pushed herself up to a sitting position, and felt the world closing in around her as her heart raced. _Panic attack._ Daisy was gone now, and Melinda was sitting on the bed trying to calm herself down. She wrapped an arm around her stomach as Daisy and Simmons rushed through the door.

Still forcing herself to take deep, slow breaths, Melinda heard Simmons rambling off questions and instructions. “Do you have any pain? Let me check your pulse. Heart beat?”

“Simmons, I’m fine. Pretty sure it’s a panic attack.”

“Well, I don’t think it would hurt to check you out either way.” Jemma insisted.

Melinda endured being poked and prodded, having her blood pressure and pulse checked multiple times, and having Simmons insist on listening to the baby’s heartbeat with a stethoscope.

“May, I think you were right. Have you been having panic attacks often?” Simmons looked concerned.

“Only occasionally.” May didn’t really want Daisy to hear all of this right before she left on a mission. There was no need to distract her.

“Well why don’t you come see me tomorrow and we can discuss it in more detail? Hm?”

May nodded as Simmons gathered her supplies and headed for the door. She could feel Daisy’s eyes on her as Simmons shut the door.

“Panic attacks? Really?” The tone of Daisy’s voice left no doubt that she was frustrated with Melinda.

“Only a couple.” _More like 10._

“You should’ve told me. What triggers them? Any ideas?” Daisy’s question had been innocent enough, but Melinda rolled her eyes in response.

“Yes.” _Yeah, the man I love is probably lost in space, I’m pregnant with his child at 50 years old and he has no idea, I am going to be a mother to a tiny baby in 3 months, and there are about a thousand things that could go wrong with every aspect of our lives._

Daisy was looking expectantly at Melinda, who had no intentions of expanding on her statement.

“Well?”

May sighed heavily and laid back down. “There’s nothing I can do about it, Daisy.” Melinda rolled over to turn off the lamp on the bedside table, leaving Daisy standing in the darkness next to the bed.

Daisy flipped the light back on. Apparently, she wasn’t going to let this go. “You could’ve told me, or at least Simmons.”

“Daisy, please. Let’s not do this.” May turned the light out again, and she heard Daisy walk around the bed toward the door before abruptly leaving and slamming the door shut on her way out. _Damnit. That’s what I get for overthinking things with her around._

Melinda gave Daisy about 45 minutes to cool off before she decided to follow the younger agent. Walking through base, she found Daisy right where she expected: beating the hell out of a punching bag in the gym.  May walked in and sat down on one of the cushioned mats laid out for sparring practice and waited for Daisy to acknowledge her. Even though she knew Daisy was aware of her presence, it took another 10 minutes for Daisy to turn and speak.

Out of breath Daisy began, “You’ve got to tell me these things. You don’t always have to do everything alone.”

May refused to meet Daisy’s eyes. “I knew you would worry,” she said softly.

Daisy rolled her eyes. “Yeah, ‘cause having a panic attack out of nowhere was a great way to keep me from worrying.”

“I know.” After a pause, she sighed and finally made eye-contact. “I’m trying, Daisy. This is all new and confusing…” _and terrifying,_ she added silently.

Daisy walked closer to Melinda and looked at her seriously. “Just promise me you’ll tell me about health issues from now on. Please?”

May smirked at Daisy, surprised that she had been forgiven so easily. “Help me up, and I’ll think about it.”

Daisy eyed Melinda skeptically for a moment before she responded. “Deal.” Daisy held out her hand and helped Melinda to her feet.

\-----------

The next morning, May woke up before Daisy and headed to her office to finalize some paperwork before Daisy left.  She had been filing reports and signing off on the nearly completed repairs of the base for nearly an hour when Fitzsimmons walked through the door.

Simmons spoke first as Melinda looked up from her report, “Have you got a moment, May?”

May looked at her watch. It was almost time for th5 pre-mission brief so Daisy could head out. “Just a couple of minutes. Why?”

Simmons looked at Fitz to answer. “So, I have a plan for getting Jane Foster to base. She has agreed to come help tomorrow. Her schedule has suddenly opened up sooner, rather than later.”

May was pleased to hear the news and sat back and propped her hands-on top of her stomach. “Great, Fitz. Get the details of where she wants us to pick her up, and I’ll send a pilot with you to meet her.”

“I’ll tell her to expect us later today, then.” Fitz turned and headed out the door, leaving Simmons and May alone together.

Simmons sat across the desk from May, looking like she wanted to ask something.  Melinda beat her to the punch, “Is this about last night, Simmons?”

Jemma seemed relieved that May had brought it up first. “Yes, it is actually. I know that it is possible for pregnant women to have panic attacks, given the change in hormones and the normal anxiety of becoming a new parent, and all. But I am concerned that neither Daisy or I seemed to know that you had had them previously. For me to properly treat you, May, I need to know these types of things.”

“I did discuss it with my other doctor, Jemma.” Seeing the look of hurt on Simmons’ face, she had to clarify. “I didn’t want to worry you or Daisy. That’s the only reason I didn’t mention it.”

“May, I know you’re used to being independent and a fairly private person, but I really must protest this time. If an emergency were to arise, any little detail could be relevant and without having all the details, I can’t make appropriate decisions to help you. You’re really putting yourself at risk, May.”

Melinda knew Simmons was right, and was about to respond, when Daisy walked in.  “Simmons, I’ll find you after I do their briefing, ok?”

\----------

Hiding a pregnancy while having to stand in front of several agents for an extended period of time was not easy. Melinda had to take care how she moved and everything she picked up, so she didn’t accidentally accentuate her stomach. To top it off, it felt like the baby was turning somersaults, and she was struggling to keep her mind focused on the task at hand.

She finally finished briefing Daisy and the pilots. They would be radio silent once they got within 100 miles of Mack and Yo-yo’s last known location hopefully prevent them from being discovered, so she pulled Daisy aside as they headed to the quinjet.

Melinda quickly pulled Daisy into a hug, and said, “Be careful out there. That’s an order.”

Daisy returned her embrace and nodded. “Don’t worry about me. I spent plenty of time flying under the radar to avoid SHIELD. I think I can do the same long enough to find Mack and Yo-yo.”

May pulled away to look Daisy in the eyes. “I mean it, Daisy. Don’t take any unnecessary risks.”

Daisy rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. “I’ll be fine, I promise.” She hugged May again quickly before heading toward the quinjet.

\----------

May finally found time to see Simmons after finalizing reports and getting Fitz on his way to pick up Jane Foster. She had just stood up and was stretching her aching back before heading to the lab, when Simmons walked through the door.

“May, I thought it would be easier for me to come back to you. I know you’re busy.” Simmons had a look of concern her face.

“I was just headed to see you, Jemma.” May headed from behind her desk toward the couch and lightly grabbed Simmons’ arm and pointed her toward the couch as well. “Let’s have a seat.”

“May, I just have some concerns that I’m hoping we can discuss.”

Melinda nodded as she sat down and adjusted couple of pillows behind her back. “What do you want to know?”

“Well… I spoke to the specialist you’ve been seeing, and we discussed the best course to proceed.  She and I agree you need to reduce your work load and stress levels. It is dangerous for you both if you continue at the rate you’re going.”

“Jemma, I don’t know how you expect me to do that. Even if I were to cut down on my work, that would just give me more time to worry about…” May stopped short, putting a hand on the side of her stomach as the baby kicked her.

May could feel Jemma’s eyes on her, and said “Overall, pregnancy isn’t so bad, but you never really get used to something moving around inside of you.”

                Jemma’s eyes were on May’s stomach, “Yes, well I imagine not. Could… Could I feel her?”

                Melinda realized that Jemma had done plenty of exams and ultrasounds, but had never really had much opportunity to feel the baby with her own hands. Holding out a hand to Simmons with a small smile, she said “Daisy never asks.”

                Simmons slid closer and allowed Melinda to position her hand. “Wait for it, Jemma. She’ll kick again in a second.”

                Nearly as soon as May finished speaking, she felt another kick. “Oh! Well now isn’t that fascinating!” Jemma was obviously intrigued and in awe, if possible even more so than Daisy had been.

                Jemma continued chattering excitedly, and May couldn’t help the small smile growing across her face. After a few moments, May spoke again. “Jemma, until we get Coulson back, I can’t slow down. Not having him here, that’s my biggest trigger.”

                “May, I know you’re scared and worried, but you need to try to take it easy.” Jemma sat up straight and moved back to her place on the couch. “You could always go visit your parents. I’m sure they’ll be pleased to see you! What do they think about the baby?”

                Melinda didn’t answer.

                “You haven’t told them, have you? May, you need to take a few days off. Take a car or a jet, and go see your family. Daisy isn’t expected back for another two or three days and Fitz and I can host Dr. Foster until you return.”

                Melinda looked down and draped a hand gently across her rounded stomach. “It’s been over just over six months since I found out I was pregnant. They’re not going to take it well that I haven’t told them yet.”

                “Yes, well, I don’t imagine they’ll take it any better if you wait until after she’s born either,” Simmons responded in her kind, but firm tone.

                Melinda sighed heavily and looked up to meet Jemma’s eyes. “Fine. Once Daisy does the final check-in before they go dark, I’ll take a couple of days.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane Foster comes for a visit.

Melinda had packed a bag as she waited for Daisy and the team to make their final check-in as they went dark.  Once she heard from Daisy and reminded her to play it safe, Melinda said goodbye to Jemma and headed for the garage.  She hesitated for only a moment before she decided to take Lola out. _It’s not good for a classic car to sit without getting at least a little use every now and then,_ she thought with a smirk _._

She had been worried how her father would react during the long drive to his house, and as she pulled into the driveway, she immediately considered turning around and driving the opposite direction. After a couple of minutes, she convinced herself to get out of the car and grab her bag, and made her way to the front door.

Melinda had just reached landing when the door opened, and her father was standing before her, a look of confusion and delight on his face. “Millie! Not that I’m unhappy to see you, but I’m surprised you’re here!”

Melinda couldn’t keep her emotions to herself anymore, and tears filled her eyes before she could prevent it. _Damn hormones._

Seeing her face, her father took a step toward her. “Melinda, what’s wrong?”

Wiping at the few tears that were now leaking out, she braced herself for whatever reaction he would have when she sprung the news on him. “I’m…….. pregnant.” She moved her strategically-held duffle bag out of the way so he could see her stomach.

She had imagined so many scenarios in her head during the drive over, but his reaction was one she had not prepared for: silence. He was obviously stunned and didn’t know how to react.

Instead of speaking he gave her a warm hug that she gratefully leaned into. “Well, come in, Millie. We have a lot to discuss.”

Melinda sat with him on the couch and told him all that had happened since the Framework, and most of her concerns about becoming a parent: Coulson potentially being somewhere in a far-off galaxy and leaving her to be a new parent and Director of SHIELD by herself.

He was silent until she finished. “Millie, it will all work out. Stay here as long as you need to.  When your mother was pregnant, it was nearly impossible to get her to sit still for more than a moment.  You need the rest to keep you both healthy!”

It took all of May’s will power not to roll her eyes at her father. “How can I rest when her father doesn’t even know she exists! He’s not even on the same planet, and I have no idea how to find him.”

Her father stood and made his way to the kitchen, speaking over his shoulder as he went. “Phil is a good man who would be more upset with you for not taking care of yourself and his daughter while he is away.”

She could hear her father in the kitchen, presumably making tea for her like when she was young and worried about school work or an ice skating competition. He came back a few minutes later, tea in hand for each of them.

Melinda could feel his eyes on her as he sat down and passed her a cup of tea.  After a moment he spoke, “Millie, take care of yourself. And my granddaughter. Promise me?”

Leaning over to put her head on his shoulder she spoke softly, “I promise.”

\----------

Being exhausted from the drive down to her father’s, Melinda had gone to bed almost immediately after dinner and slept peacefully for several hours.   She probably would’ve slept longer if that dream hadn’t woken her up again.  She dreamed of Phil nearly every night now. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, and sometimes both.  Tonight, she dreamed of his death again and awoke suddenly in a cold sweat, heart pounding. In addition to adjusting to Daisy being gone, not being able to maintain contact with her was not helping Melinda’s anxiety.  Around 4:30, she finally gave up trying to sleep again and instead went to take a shower, in hopes that would help ease her mind and relax her tired body.

She had just turned the water off and reached for a towel when she heard her phone start to vibrate on the counter.  Melinda grabbed the phone and answered quickly.  “Hello?”

“Don’t say anything, just listen. I don’t have much time.” The relief May felt upon hearing Daisy’s voice on the other end of the line was short lived as Daisy had continued speaking. “I got them the message, May. But we got ambushed before I could even put any distance between us. Mack took two hits, but not fatal.  We got out of there, but when we got back to the jet, it had been disabled and the pilot was dead.  Mack is trying to fix it, but I don’t think he will be quick enough with his injuries.  We need a new extraction plan.”

“What’s your location?” Melinda was worried, but kept up a confident front for Daisy.

Daisy explained their location to the best of her abilities, and Melinda immediately called the base to order an extraction team to go pick them up. She ensured Piper was heading the team she sent. If Melinda couldn’t go after Daisy herself, Piper was her first choice to head the team.

She gathered her things quickly and headed toward the kitchen, intending to leave her father a note to explain her sudden departure.  In her hurry, her leg slammed into the small table in the hallway, knocking over the photos and the vase that were on the top of it. “Damnit!” she cursed under her breath.

“Millie? Is everything ok?” She heard her father’s footsteps from his room and his door opened suddenly. Taking in her disheveled state and her duffle in her hand, he asked, “You were going to leave without saying goodbye?”

“I’m sorry. Daisy had some trouble on a mission and needs extraction. I need to be at the base to run point to get her back. I was going to leave you a note so I wouldn’t have to wake you up.”

Her father came toward her and wrapped her in a tight hug, a gesture she quickly returned sighing into his shoulder as they embraced. Blinking back tears, she pulled away after a moment and gave him a small smile. “I love you.”

                “I love you, too, Millie. Now, go bring your other daughter home. Next time, bring her with you so I can meet the girl you’re always bragging about, hmm?”

Melinda rolled her eyes with fake exasperation, and gave him another small smile. “I’ll try.”

He walked her to the door, and she saw him still standing in the doorway as she sped out of the driveway.

\----------

The drive back to base took her a little over two hours, instead of the four it had taken her to get to her father’s house. After Simmons had called to tell her that they believed Daisy and the others had been caught and taken to another location, May had increased her already ridiculous speed. She parked hurriedly and headed straight for her office.  Melinda was still in the tank top and leggings she had put on after getting out of the shower, and not making any effort to hide her obvious bump as she practically ran through the hallways. _I guess the time has passed for trying to hide it,_ she thought as she got several stares from agents as she hurried to her office.

When she got there, winded and sweaty, Simmons was there speaking on the video feed to Piper on the quinjet. She spoke as soon as she walked through the door. “Piper. How close are you?”

They both looked at her when she spoke, and Simmons quickly went to pour her a glass of water as Piper updated her on their position.

“Twenty minutes until touch down, Director May,” Piper said as Simmons returned. “I have been scanning aerial views of the city, and I believe I have located the temporary headquarters of those who were pursuing Agents Johnson, Mackenzie, and Rodriguez. There has been an unusual amount of activity in an abandoned warehouse on the edge of town.” Out of the corner of her eye, Melinda saw Simmons press the tablet on the desk, and the satellite imagery came up on the screen highlighting the area that Piper had mentioned.

“Do we know who they are?” May asked.

Jemma was the one who answered, “No, but I have a theory based on what we’ve seen. There’s been a large amount of scientific and medical equipment coming in and out.  Most of what I’ve seen has been similar to what was found in A.I.M.’s facility by Mr. Stark when Aldrich Killian was doing experiments with the Extremis serum that later led to Centipede. I think they may be revising those experiments or doing something equally disturbing. And I am willing to bet they were following Elena because they want to see the reaction between the serum and her Inhuman biology. No doubt they’ll be thrilled to have gotten Daisy, too.”

May sat down heavily in her chair, feeling weary and exhausted. “Piper, you’ve had more time with eyes on the schematics and the changing situation than I have.  Do you have a plan to proceed?”

Piper proposed her approach to the situation, emphasizing the need to strike fast, and get them out quickly.  “Director, we will of course need to do a small amount of recon to determine their location within the building before we go in.”

Melinda nodded her approval of the preliminary plan. It was a relatively solid plan that would allow for a quick rescue, so long as they could locate the three agents quickly. “Once you’re on the ground and have a better idea of their locations, I’ll expect an update.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll call you back once we know more,” Piper said before the screen went black.

Melinda leaned back in her chair and tried to keep herself from falling apart.  Exhaustion and emotion were taking a toll, and she could feel tears stinging her eyes.

“May?” Simmons asked quietly.

Melinda turned her chair away to wipe the tears away before they had a chance to fall. “Yeah, Jemma?”

“It’s not the most opportune time, but it’s good news that I’m sure you’ll be glad to hear.”

Melinda turned back to Simmons and raised her eyebrows in question.

“Dr. Foster arrived while you were gone.  She started working on theories as soon as Fitz spoke to her the first time.  Before I left the lab to come here, she and Fitz were already discussing ways to determine if the neutrino surge could’ve created a portal, and if so, where it might’ve lead.”

“That is at least some good news.” Melinda didn’t know what else to say.  Part of her was hoping Jane Foster could lead them to Phil, but at the same time, if she did, it meant finding a way to open a portal to space and hoping Phil was still on the other side after seven months had passed. Suddenly, she felt all of the muscles in her lower abdomen tighten, and she leaned forward, wrapping a hand around her stomach. She wouldn’t call it painful exactly, but more of an uncomfortable pressure.

Simmons noticed and came closer. “What is it? Are you in pain?” Without waiting for a response, she immediately began feeling Melinda’s stomach as she leaned Melinda back slightly in the chair.

Melinda told her what it felt like, and Simmons remained silent for a few more moments, still in focused on her impromptu exam.

“Simmons?” May questioned nervously.

“Have you had this before? Have you had any spotting or bleeding?”

“I had one other episode on my way in, but it was several hours ago right after I left my dad’s. No to the second question.” When Simmons remained silent, Melinda asked again, “Jemma, what’s wrong? I’m not going into early labor am I?”

“I think it’s just false labor. It’s fairly common at this point of a pregnancy. If they happen more frequently or get to be painful, we will be concerned, but for now, I think you’re both…”

She was interrupted by Piper’s video call coming in, and May felt Simmons gently squeeze her hand in reassurance as they turned to face the screen.

“Director, we have located them within the facility. They have Daisy and Elena in an intake area, and Mack is in another location.  It looks like he is in an interrogation area of some sort. Fitz’s new scanner came in handy locating our agents inside of the building. They must have Daisy and Elena’s powers restricted somehow or they would’ve gotten out already.  Based on our quick analysis with the other new gadgets Fitz has given us, we know the weak spots in the walls and I have located the weak links in the guards.  For my team, we should be able to get in and out in under 20 minutes. Most likely we can do it in 15 since we will have Daisy and Elena with us on the way out.”

“That’s what I like to hear, Piper. It sounds like you don’t even need me to run the op. I’ll let you handle it and I’ll be watching and jump in if you need me.”

Piper and Simmons both looked slightly taken aback by this announcement, but they chose not to comment. 

“Have everybody suit-up and get the helmet-cams and Com’s on everybody.  I want to see and hear everything.”

Piper stood straighter after getting her orders. “Yes, ma’am. Everyone will be online, and we will be geared up, on sight within 30 minutes, ready to go.”

\----------

May was true to her word and let Piper run the op.  Everything went smoothly without any more injury to their team, and they even recovered some samples from the lab for Fitzsimmons to test to figure out more about who and what they may be up against from this group.

May spoke to Daisy and ensured the team was safe before she left to go to bed. Now that she wasn’t running on adrenaline, the exhaustion was wearing heavily on her.

Simmons caught her before they left the director’s office.  “May, I want to see you to do a work-up tomorrow. With the panic attacks and this, I want to just give you a once-over. The stress you’re under has me concerned. For today though, I have my phone, so call me if you have any more issues, or if you need anything at all. I know Daisy will be home in a few hours, but I’m available if you need me. Make sure you get some rest while we wait on them to arrive, ok? Resting will do you a world of good.” Jemma pulled May into a quick hug.

Melinda hesitated for a moment before she wrapped both arms around the young scientist. “Thank you.”

Continuing down the hallway, Melinda was extremely glad when she reached her room.  She was too tired to even bother to pull the comforter and sheets back before she laid down. Kicking off her shoes, she laid on top of the blankets, and fell to sleep almost immediately.

\----------

Sometime later she woke suddenly, unsure of how much time had passed. Melinda noticed that the light in the bathroom was on and someone had put a spare blanket over her; a fact she was grateful for since the room had gotten chilly. _Daisy._

She didn’t hear the water running so she got up and knocked on the door. “Daisy?”

Daisy opened the door almost immediately, hair dripping and steam pouring out of the door. “I’m sorry if I woke you.  I didn’t really expect you to still be asleep since it’s almost dinner time.”

Melinda breathed a sigh of relief that Daisy was home safe. “You didn’t. How’re Mack and Yo-yo?”

Daisy had started towel drying her hair. “Fine.  Mack will need some time to heal where the bullet passed through the muscle, but he will be good as new in a few weeks.” Daisy stopped drying her hair to look at May before continuing the conversation. “And, how are you? Simmons said that you had some contractions?’

Melinda turned and walked back to sit on the bed. If it was almost dinner time, then she had been asleep for almost seven hours. “She said it was nothing to worry about since it’s just my body’s way of prepping for delivery. Apparently, it’s fairly common at this point to have them.”

Daisy eyed Melinda for a few more seconds before seeming to be satisfied with the answer. “And your panic attacks?”

May sighed, knowing that Daisy wouldn’t stop grilling her unless she answered. “Only had one while you were gone.”

Daisy seemed satisfied  by the answer and moved on. “So then, how was the trip to your dad’s?”

                “Since I had to cut the trip short, I owe him another visit soon.” She paused for a second, unsure of how Daisy may react. “And he wants you to come, too.”

 “Great.  I’d love to meet your dad!” Daisy flipped the bathroom light off, and asked, “Do you want food? I’m starving.”

Melinda was still a little surprised by how enthusiastically Daisy had reacted to meeting her dad. “I haven’t had a chance to meet Dr. Foster yet.  Ask her and Fitzsimmons to join us for dinner to give me an update. I’ll meet you in the common room in 20.  I need to shower and freshen up.”

\----------

May put on her most comfortable pair of black jeans and one of Phil’s black t-shirts she found in the back of the drawer. It still smelled like him. _We will find you Phil.  I promise._ She turned to look at herself in the mirror, caressing her stomach as she did so. _She will be here in just a couple of months, Phil. She’s going to need you._ Her daughter always kicked and squirmed when Melinda thought about Phil, and today was no different.

She was soon on her way to meet everyone else, hopeful that Dr. Foster could supply some answers. Walking through the common room door, she noticed that someone, likely either Daisy or Simmons, had put spaghetti on the stove and it smelled like they had tossed some garlic bread in the oven as well.

Melinda walked over to where Daisy and Jemma were setting the table. “Where are Fitz and Dr. Foster?”

Jemma answered, “Finishing up some data entry that couldn’t wait. They should be along before the bread is finished toasting.”

Daisy nodded toward the door where Fitz and Dr. Foster were coming through the door, “Speak of the Devil.”

Melinda walked toward them and extended a hand in introduction. “Dr. Foster, I’m Melinda May, Acting Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Dr. Foster shook Melinda’s hand. “Oh, call me Jane, please, Director.”

“I apologize for not introducing myself sooner, but things have been a bit crazy around here lately.”

Jane’s response was genuine, and May was starting to like her already.  “Not a problem at all!  Agents Fitz and Simmons have been extremely helpful getting me settled, and I think we have made some real progress already. I have a series of data sets that I believe can be used to our advantage.” After a brief pause she continued. “On a more personal note, I met Agent Coulson with Thor a while back, and it would be my honor to help you bring him back. He’s a great man.”

Melinda gave her a smile. "Thank you, Doctor. Phil always speaks so highly of Thor. Not as much as Captain America, but I know he considers Thor a friend."

\----------

May sat at the head of the table listening to all of the ‘kids’ talking during dinner. On one side of the table, Fitzsimmons and Dr. Foster were talking in science terms that she couldn’t follow. Daisy, Mack, and Elena were on the other side discussing movies, and having arguments over which fictional character would win a fight. _Just like before. The only thing missing is you, Phil._

As everyone finished eating, Melinda jumped in during a slight lull in the conversation. “Doctor, while we are all here, would you mind giving us an update?”

Dr. Foster sat straighter in her chair and looked at May.  “So what Leo and I have discovered is that the neutrino surge that was recorded was actually two separate surges that happened within two and a half minutes of one another.  The energy emitted was similar to what we see anytime the Asgardians come to Earth, but it was smaller and more localized. Everything I have seen points toward this surge being a portal opening to another location. Like I said, it was all very similar to when people travel to and from Azgard.”

Fitz added, “And from the data she has, we can pinpoint the location of the surge to be a mile from the diner, but we aren’t sure where the portal opened on the other end. Not yet at least.”

Melinda was feeling much better hearing this. “Not yet? Does that mean you have a way to figure out where it lead?”

Dr. Foster was the one who answered, “We have written an algorithm to calculate the possibilities of where it could lead.  Researching the Convergence, I noticed that the magnitude of each portal’s energy signature was directly proportional to the distance to where it opened on the other end.  We can calculate the distance between each side. Of course, the margin of error increases with the distance, but it is a starting point.  Once we know the distance, we would look at the position of the Earth and the rest of the heavens on the day the portal opened, and we can see what bodies are within the range, and figure out where it leads.”

Everyone had been listening to Dr. Foster with rapt attention and sat silently for a moment to process all that she said.  Daisy was the first to respond, “So if this one was smaller than Thor or Sif coming to earth, then theoretically he should be closer than Azgard, right?”

Dr. Foster sighed. “Yes. Another factor that could affect it, would be how many beings went through the portal.  Obviously, more people traveling through the portal would mean more energy would need to be generated to safely transport them.  That is why the second burst was slightly larger than the first, since Director Coulson likely went back with whomever used the portal to get here. My estimate though, I would say that based on the significantly smaller size, that we could potentially be looking at the portal leading to somewhere in one of the nearby solar systems, potentially even our own.”

Melinda was beginning to have a little hope that they would find him, but she was starting to wonder how they would get to Phil if they could locate him.

Mack voiced the same concern. “So, narrowing down the location is great and all, but how do we get there once we figure out where ‘there’ is?”

Jemma answered, “Well that’s what we are trying to figure out now.  It would depend where it is. I believe we could possibly repurpose the frame that…” She gritted her teeth for the next word. “Aida… built with the instructions from the Darkhold.  If it can create a portal to an alternate dimension, with some adjustments and enough power, it could theoretically be used to create a portal to space. Fitz and I have already started modifying it to do tests around the base.”

Red flags started going up in Melinda’s mind. “Simmons. How would anyone get back? It would require a ton of energy to keep the thing operating for a significant amount of time. Is it even possible for it to operate from both sides, or would it be a one-way trip?”

Simmons seemed slightly discouraged, “We aren’t sure yet, May. We will have to test it to be sure.”

May knew that Simmons wasn’t telling everything, but she let it go for the moment. There was no need to make everyone hear what they already suspected.

They sat in silence for a few moments, no one knowing whether to be glad or discouraged about what they had heard. Melinda dismissed everyone by saying, “You all need some sleep. Especially you three that just got back today. Dr. Foster, thank you for your help so far. If you need anything at all while you are staying here, just let me know.”

“Thank you, Director. Glad I can help.”

\----------

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Melinda and Daisy were getting ready for bed, silently processing the day, when Daisy turned toward May suddenly. “What are we gonna name her?”

Melinda was slightly taken aback at the sudden question, and looked at Daisy in surprise. A slow smile blossomed across her face as she thought about her answer. “I have some ideas.”

“Are you going to share them? ‘Cause I can always give my vote and make suggestions.”

Melinda continued to smirk at Daisy. “I think we better have a family discussion about it once we get Phil back.”

Daisy was trying her best to get Melinda to cave. “Or you could just tell me now, and we can tell him what we decide later.”

Melinda rolled her eyes in fake exasperation, but the smirk on her face continued to grow. She had to endure Daisy’s almost constant pestering for another five minutes while she attempted to weasel some information out of Melinda. “Daisy. Take ‘no’ for an answer sometimes.”

They climbed into bed and Daisy immediately curled up next to May and wrapped her in an embrace. She sighed into Melinda’s shoulder. “I’m glad to be home.”

May returned the embrace with one arm, and put her other across her stomach, grateful to have most of her family safe again. “You had me worried, Daisy.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

They laid in silence for a while longer before Melinda spoke again, thinking Daisy would be asleep by this point. “I know you’re already planning to go after him, but don’t get any stupid ideas. I don’t know that I can risk being without both of you,” she whispered.

Daisy squeezed Melinda a little tighter and snuggled a little closer.  “You won’t have to. We’ll both be here,” she responded sleepily.

She kissed Daisy’s forehead, and hoped that she was right.

\----------

Melinda woke slightly earlier than usual, and decided to get up to do her Tai Chi.  She always felt more relaxed when she did it while the base was quiet.  When she was done in the gym and was on her way back to her quarters, she noticed that Fitz and Simmons were in the lab already. They hadn’t noticed her walk in, and were sitting close with their focus on the computer screen between them.

As she was making her way toward them, something on the screen must’ve changed because Simmons leapt up suddenly, exclaiming “Fitz, do you see this?!”

Fitz was slowly shaking his head. “How…?”

May was almost close enough to see whatever was on the computer screen.

Simmons wrapped Fitz in a hug and planted a kiss firmly on his lips. “We have to tell May and Dr. Foster! This changes everything.”

Melinda was finally close enough to see the computer screen, but couldn’t make heads or tails of the rows of data she saw. “Good news I guess?”

Simmons whipped around when she heard Melinda’s voice. “Oh, May! It’s more than that; it’s wonderful news!” She ran over and wrapped her arms around May briefly before pulling back. “They went to the moon!”

She was stunned. “Oh.” She smiled at Simmons with relief, tears stinging her eyes. A hundred thoughts running through her mind, “That is great news!” _He’s close._

_\----------_

Walking back into her room, she saw Daisy was still asleep. Melinda turned on the lamp in the corner before she eased herself down on the bed, which was no longer an easy task. “Daisy, wake up, baby,” she said, gently pushing Daisy’s hair back from her face.

Daisy squeezed her eyes tight and she pulled the blankets up to cover her head. “Mmmm.”

Melinda knew Daisy was tired after getting back from a mission, but she also knew Daisy would be upset if she wasn’t told about their latest news. “Daisy. It’s about Phil.”

Tossing the blanket back, Daisy looked at May with squinted eyes, trying to adjust to the light from the lamp Melinda had turned on in the corner. “What’s going on? Is there news?”

“Their algorithm gave us a location. There’re no guarantees, but we know where they went when they left earth.”

Daisy sat up, and was looking expectantly at Melinda, becoming more alert with every second. “Well?”

May smiled as she said, “They went to the moon.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So close to finding Coulson..

As soon as Fitzsimmons had told Dr. Foster the results of their algorithm, the three of them had set to work testing and adjusting their portal. Melinda had to make sure to keep a close eye on them to make sure they were all getting enough food and rest to sustain themselves.  At least one of them would give her an update every other day, and they all seemed frustrated that in the three weeks that had passed since the algorithm had told them Phil had been taken to the moon, they had made only a marginal amount of progress with their portal generator. Lately she had taken to appealing to the government to try to get assistance for a trip to the moon.

“But, sir, SHIELD is back, and we are requesting government assistance for a rescue mission. Surely General Talbot’s recent statement…”

The President cut May off mid-sentence on their call. “I can’t authorize MILLIONS of tax payer dollars to send a shuttle to the moon. Especially based on a hunch that you and your band of misfits have about a portal taking a man to the moon. Additionally, we have no proof of any unusual activity on the moon. I can’t authorize what you’re asking, especially given SHIELD’s rocky history in the last few years. Just because Talbot filed a statement corroborating this Life Decoy nonsense does not mean the government and the public have completely forgiven SHIELD for all of its indiscretions of the last years.”

Melinda was frustrated and emotional, with hormones and stress already wreaking havoc on her moods. Trying her best to keep a note of authority to her voice, “Mr. President, please consider...”

“I am sorry, Director May, but there is nothing I could do even if I wanted to. Goodbye.”

As the line went dead, she could feel the tears welling in her eyes. “Shit,” she whispered as she tried and failed to keep the tears from falling. Leaning back in her chair, Melinda spent a few minutes in silence trying to figure out what to do next.

A few minutes later, Daisy knocked on her office door, “Hey, how’d it go with the President?”

May sniffed and turned to face her.

She saw May’s tear-stained face and said, “Oh. That good, huh?”

Melinda wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I think we are out of options, Daisy. We’ll just have to wait for Fitzsimmons and Dr. Foster to get the portal worked out, and hope it’s sooner rather than later.” She looked down at the swell of her stomach. Seeing her daughter drag an elbow or foot across the full length of her stomach, was always an amazing sight to see.

“We will get something worked out soon.  That’s why I’m here actually.  They just sent a cat all the way across base, and now they think they can start testing it on people once they find a source of enough power. They’re scouring the globe as we speak.”

Melinda grasped the arm rests of her chair and pushed herself to her feet. “Let’s hope they can find a source with enough power to get us to the moon.”

\----------

Another couple of weeks passed, and May was sleeping fitfully.  In addition to all the stress she was under and rarely being able to find a sleeping position that was comfortable for more than a few minutes at a time, she and Daisy had argued at dinner. She had finally gotten to sleep when Daisy came bursting through the bedroom door.

She was slightly out of breath and had obviously ran from wherever she had been sulking since their argument. “Fitzsimmons just called and said they think they’ve almost got the final electrical issues worked out.  They’re doing a little re-wiring, and should be able to do the final tests within a day or two.”

May sat up, suddenly nervous.  The pair had gone with Dr. Foster to the largest geothermal power plant in the world to set up and test their portal. It was one of only a few locations that could generate enough energy to power a portal to the moon. That was all the government had been able to supply: a few weeks’ worth of energy to test their portal. And that was only because Dr. Foster had pulled every string with the government that she had and had written ten separate grants to rich backers who had been dying for a chance to work with her to pay for the rest of the experiment. 

The plant was in California, and the scientists had so far succeeded in sending small objects and animals to the base, but they hadn’t yet sent a person through. Even once they perfected the process on earth, the calculations had to be exact when they attempted to send someone to the moon.  If they were off by more than a few feet, it could be catastrophic. There was also a chance they wouldn’t be able to re-open the portal to bring everyone back from the moon, but Melinda couldn’t let herself worry about that yet.

“Oh, God.” Melinda said softly, instinctively putting a hand on her stomach.

Daisy plopped down on the bed, sitting next to her adoptive mother. “It’ll all be fine, mom. Fitzsimmons are the best, and Dr. Foster is a literal space expert.”

May sighed, trying to get rid of the tension in her body. “I know, Daisy. If anybody can do it, it would be them.”

Daisy laid over and put her head on Melinda’s leg. “I’m sorry we argued.”

Melinda ran a hand through Daisy’s hair, smoothing it out as she did. “Me too, baby.” She kept playing with Daisy’s hair for a few moments before the younger agent rolled over to face her.

Daisy looked like she had something to say, but before she spoke, she rearranged herself with arms wrapped around Melinda’s waist and the side of her face against Melinda’s stomach.

Melinda kept one hand on the top of her stomach and put the other on Daisy’s side. “Daisy, what are you...?”

“Hey in there.  Mom and I had a big fight earlier, and I feel terrible for yelling at her.”

Melinda interrupted, “Daisy, don’t.”

Daisy kept talking, “I know you heard us, but I wanted to run my idea by you. I think It should be me, Mack, and Yo-yo to go after Dad.  I have a pretty good reasoning behind it, too, since we need Auntie Jemma and Uncle Fitz to stay here with Dr. Foster, and we need all hands on-deck to go through. But mom thinks I should stay here.”

Melinda sighed with frustration at Daisy since they had been over this already, but Daisy ignored her and kept talking.

“I know it’s just because she is scared. I don’t blame her, ‘cause I am, too, but it’s our best shot for everybody to get home safely. She’s probably a little frustrated, too, since she is used to being the one to go in to help save everyone, but she needs to stay here to keep you safe. I know I can do it, and we can bring him back. That way we can both be here with Mama when you decide to come out and meet everybody, ok? Will you put in a good word with her, so maybe she will see why I need to go?” The answer was a kick squarely to Daisy’s cheek, causing her to pull back and sit up. “I’ll take that as a ‘maybe’ then. We should name you after some famous soccer player.”

Melinda was watching Daisy. “I know you have to go. I am pissed that every time I try to keep you safe, something happens to put you back in harm’s way.”

Daisy leaned back against the headboard, and put her head on Melinda’s shoulder.

Melinda made a sudden decision to tell Daisy one of her favorite names for the baby. “What do you think about Mei-Lin for a middle name?”

Daisy smiled into May’s shoulder. “I think it’s pretty. What about a first name though?”

Melinda rolled her eyes, _of course Daisy would want more than I offered._ “I want to discuss that with Phil first, but I have a couple of suggestions.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Melinda had to rearrange her position, and slid down into the bed to try to get comfortable enough to get back to sleep. “Oh, and tomorrow I have my final doctor’s appointment, and then I’m having lunch with my mother while I am out. Do you want to come?”

\----------

 “That’s one healthy baby girl in there,” the doctor said as she did an ultrasound to finish up the exam. “You’re 33 weeks, but she is measuring about a week ahead.  If I had to guess, you won’t get all the way to 40 weeks. Maybe 37 or 38 at most, and everything looks great. I know you’ve been worried, but you have had a relatively smooth pregnancy, with just a couple of bumps in the road.”

May breathed a sigh of relief, “So she’s fine?”

The doctor smiled as she stood and made her way to the door. “Yep, you both are. Just try to keep the stress levels down, and you’re good to go. Unless you go past your due date, which I doubt, you won’t have to see me anymore.”

Daisy spoke up from her place next to Melinda, “Thanks so much for all you’ve done, doctor.”

Melinda nodded her agreement, “Yes, thank you for keeping us well.”

The doctor smiled more broadly. “All I ask in return is that you send me a photo once she’s born. I like to keep track of the families through the years.”

\----------

Next on their agenda was lunch with Melinda’s mother.  She knew that her father had likely told her mother about the baby already, based on her mother’s demeanor when they had made lunch plans.

She and Daisy had just sat down at a small outdoor café, when her mother came around the corner toward them.

“Is that your mom? She looks pissed.”

“Yeah, well, she probably is.”

Lian made it to the table a few seconds later. “Qiaolian. Stand up then. Let me see if your father was lying.”

Melinda rolled her eyes and pushed herself to her feet.

Lian switched to speaking Chinese. “A fine time for me to find out you’re pregnant, since you’re this close to delivery.”

Melinda rolled her eyes again, and responded with sarcasm as she sat back down. “It’s nice to see you, too. Daisy doesn’t speak much Chinese. Stick with English.”

Daisy had been watching the exchange between the two, curious about the woman who had raised Melinda. Sticking out a hand, “Yeah, I’m Daisy Johnson by the way. “

Lian eyed Daisy’s hand for a moment before looking to Melinda. Still speaking Chinese, she said, “Did you train her?”

Melinda nodded.

Lian shook Daisy’s hand. “Good, firm grip. Don’t let anyone tell you that women should not have a solid handshake. Unless you’re undercover, you need to command the room at all times, and then you need to command it without people realizing you are.”

From that moment, Daisy and Lian carried most of the conversation. Lian shared stories about her time with the CIA, and Daisy occasionally throwing in her own anecdote from her time with SHIELD. Melinda couldn’t believe how quickly the two had warmed up to one another.

They had just finished eating when Lian finally turned her attention back to Melinda. “I expect to be able to visit when I am not working. As well as visits from you for some holidays. And make sure you bring this one, too since she is part of the family.” She gestured at Daisy with her last sentence, eliciting a huge grin from the girl.

Daisy nudged Melinda with her elbow, “You hear that? Your mom adopted me too.”

“I heard. Thank you for joining us for lunch, Mom. I’ll give you a call in a few days,” she said as she stood.

“Qiaolian, I expect a call when I have another granddaughter. Try not to make me wait so long to meet her, too, huh?”

\----------

Melinda put Daisy behind the wheel for the drive back so that she could spend time on the phone coordinating the plans for the test of the portal. 

“Simmons, I don’t think that is the best plan.”

“May, with all due respect, I disagree.  If we had an unlimited energy supply, then I would back you, but if we keep testing, we won’t be able to guarantee the President would allow us to stay and expend the amount of energy needed to re-open it for the trip home. The President is already upset that we found a way to make this happen with the extra grants to pay his ridiculous price.”

“I know, Simmons. But if something goes wrong during testing, I would rather not send three agents through the first-time test with people. Do you think we will be allowed to continue? The President would shut us down in a heartbeat.”

She heard the frustration in Simmons’ voice on the phone. “Yes, well, I can’t make promises, but between the three of us, we have our data input points, and will be testing the portal from here to base first, WITH ALL THREE people.  If that goes well, in the afternoon, we will re-open the portal and allow the same three agents, with an additional one in tow, to enter on your side, and re-appear here.  If this is all successful, we could have this calibrated and ready for the trip to the moon within a day.”

Melinda was silent, mulling over Simmons’ proposed plan.

Jemma sighed heavily. “Look, I know you are the Director and I respect you for it, but let me reassure you of our calculations.  True, there’s no guarantee, but I wouldn’t suggest it if I didn’t think it would work.”

May sighed defeatedly, knowing that Jemma was probably right. The hormones were affecting her decision making, and she knew Fitzsimmons wouldn’t push for this if they didn’t think it would go smoothly. “What time and where will they come out?”

“We have planned to send them straight to the lab.  I’ve given instructions to my team to mark the exact spot and clear the general area. We will call tonight when we get ready.  Should be about 8 pm your time.”

“Fine, Jemma. Talk to you then.”

\----------

Melinda was propped on the edge of her desk watching the feeds from the lab and the power facility as she was on coms with all three scientists and the rest of the team waiting anxiously in the lab.

As they prepped for the test, Simmons and Dr. Foster had recommended that she not be in the same room as the portal, as they weren’t sure how the quantum field would affect the baby.

Simmons spoke suddenly, authority in her voice. “Alrighty everyone, we are about to get started. Ensure we have a 10-foot perimeter on each side of the marked area. We don’t want any interference with the video recording of the test.”

May added a word of encouragement. “Be careful everyone. Fitzsimmons and Dr. Foster are in charge for this.”

Simmons started barking orders, getting everyone ready for whatever was about to happen. “Alright everyone, remember, the portal won’t stay open for more than 20 seconds, so as soon as it is open, go for it.”

As they directed the energy through the portal, there was an electrical static running over Comms, and the feed kept going in and out. Suddenly, the lights at the base flickered as well. From what Melinda could tell through the static, it looked like the portal was opening on both end. There was a bright orange ring filled with a shimmering surface, like the air above the hood of a car on a hot day. Suddenly she heard Fitz’s voice urging the agents to sprint through the portal. Turning her attention on the feed from their lab, she was able to look straight through the portal like a window, where she could see Fitzsimmons and Dr. Foster on the other side, amazed looks on their faces. The three agents burst through the portal, which closed within a few seconds of their exit.

Dr. Foster was speaking over Comms excitedly. “It worked! It worked! Director, we can do the return test tomorrow morning!!”

Melinda sat on the couch. Amazed at what she had seen. _God, this might actually work._

Daisy burst through her office door and wrapped her in a hug before she had time to react. “Did you see that?! It’s going to work!”

Melinda couldn’t help smiling as she returned the embrace. She had forgotten that her Comms were still on until she heard Simmons in her ear.

“May, it’s fine! If all goes well tomorrow on the return test, we can get them on their way soon to bring Coulson back! We will need 36 hours for the system to re-boot after such a large energy expenditure for the real event, so let Mack, Yo-yo, Daisy know so they will be prepared for the trip. And…”

Melinda interrupted. “Simmons.”

“Yeah?”

“Good work.”

\----------

The return test went as smoothly as the first. All three scientists were ecstatic and told May they would have the machine calibrated and ready to go within 24 hours.  The measurements were perfect, and they knew the exact point on the moon where the portal would open; the only down-fall to their perfect calculations, was that they would be on the dark-side of the moon, which meant communications would be questionable, if available at all since it would depend on the proximity of satellites and all the unknown variables of the location.

Melinda had spent all day barking orders to agents, having them gather supplies for Daisy, Mack, and Yo-yo’s trip, and preparing for their imminent departure.  The plan was for the three of them to take the quinjet to California after dinner to meet with Fitzsimmons and prep for their mission.

May was finally able to sit for just a moment in her room and stretch comfortably on the bed, hands caressing her belly to try to soothe the kicking, squirming life within. “Shush, baby. Mama has had a long day and you kicking me constantly doesn’t make it easy to rest.”. Her body was tired and aching, and she was starving. Daisy was supposed to be bringing dinner for both of them to the office, and she hoped that the girl would be there soon. Now that she had a moment to sit and relax, all of her worries that had been kept at bay by the flurry of activity throughout the day were coming at her with full force.

“Oh, God.” Suddenly her eyes were filled with tears. Melinda was trying to keep them from falling, and failing miserably. She couldn’t tell what exactly made the tears start falling. _Worry about Daisy and the team? Hope that they might bring Phil home? Stress from the day, or hell stress from the last few months? Hormones? It was probably some combination of it all,_ she realized.

“Hey, I’ve got pizza. I got you cheese since…” Daisy had to have the worst timing ever, and came through the door just as Melinda let out a choked sob.

She set the pizza down quickly on the bedside table and rushed to where Melinda was sitting on the bed. “Hey, it’ll be ok.”

Melinda felt Daisy wrap her arms around her shoulders, and gratefully turned into her embrace.  She pulled the younger agent tight and let out a shaky breath, trying to pull herself together so Daisy wouldn’t have to worry about her while she was gone. _The fewer distractions she has, the better she will be able to focus on her mission._ “I know it will be.” May sniffed a time or two and took another deep breath as she gently disengaged herself from Daisy’s grasp. “It’s just hormones, and after such a long day it’s hard to keep them in check, Daisy.”

Daisy narrowed her eyes, searching May’s face to see if she was being truthful. With a voice full of skepticism, Daisy replied, “If you say so.”

Giving the girl a small smile, she quickly changed subjects, not wanting to linger on the topic of why she was crying. “So, you brought dinner?” Looking at her watch she continued, “We don’t have long before your quinjet is scheduled to leave.”

Daisy hopped up and got them both a couple of slices of pizza on a napkin and brought them over to the bed. “I made the executive decision for pizza. I hope that’s ok.”

May nodded her agreement and they ate in silence for a few minutes until her phone rang. “Piper? Everything on schedule?” she answered.

“Yes, ma’am. Wheels up in 10,” came the voice through the phone.

Hanging up, May looked at Daisy. “Are you ready?”

Daisy looked apprehensive to say the least. “Ready to leave the base or ready to leave earth? I don’t guess I’m really ready for either.”

“I figured as much. But you promise me one thing: you are to come home in one piece, got it?”

Raising her eyebrows, Daisy said, “Well, I didn’t really intend to return missing any fingers or toes.”

 _Smart-ass._ Melinda kept her tone serious. “You know what I mean, Daisy. We may not share DNA, but you do share my knack for throwing yourself on a grenade to protect others.”

“Fine. No flinging myself on a grenade or in front of a speeding bullet. Got it. But you have to promise not to do anything stupid while I’m gone either. No baby until after we get back, ok?”

“I’m not due for at least a month.”

“Yeah, but trouble seems to follow us. Take it easy for the day and a half we will be gone.” Daisy pulled Melinda into a brief hug, grabbed the rest of her pizza and headed out of the room. “I’ll see you at the hangar?”

\----------

The next morning, Simmons called and got the video monitors running for May, so she could have a feed of what was happening. Piper had been in the office with her, but Melinda had decided she would rather be alone, sending Piper to train some of the newer recruits they had recently brought in.

Simmons was obviously nervous and was chattering away as soon as the feed connected them. “May, Daisy and the others are suiting up now with the lightweight space suits that we have. Much less bulky and ugly than those things that NASA uses. And Fitz redesigned the air filtration system, so they will be able to only have the one tank that can recycle the air for as long as they need it. It really was a genius move for him to figure out a filtration system to convert the carbon dioxide back into breathable oxygen. And…”

Melinda had finally had enough of Simmons’ constant rambling. “Simmons, we went through all of this yesterday.”

“I know, but it makes me feel better to run through it all anyway.” She continued re-stating everything that she had already told the team. “As I was saying, we think there is obviously some type of biome model that they would have had to transport to, as it would be impossible for someone to stay on the moon for any reasonable period without some sort of shelter from the vacuum of space. We don’t know if that means a ship or some type of dome, or…”

May sighed, tuning Simmons out, and made her way to sit in her desk chair. It may make her feel better, but it was worrying Melinda more to hear everything again than it would be to sit in silence. They still had about 10 minutes before the team was set to leave, and she was terrified to send them. _This is fucking ridiculous. Our lives are fucking ridiculous. No one would believe a word of this if they weren’t living it._ She winced suddenly as the little life inside her gave a violent kick. Putting a comforting hand on her stomach she thought. _I’m sorry that you’ll have to come into a world as scary and uncertain as this one, little one. It wasn’t always this insane._

Jemma was still speaking when May noticed the others walking in behind her. “The portal will open at the exact geological location on the moon, but it will require a new set of coordinates for us, because the Earth and the moon are constantly rotating around the sun. It’s an ornately complex system really, but it does have a certain scientific beauty to it.”

Daisy pulled Simmons from her monologue, “Jemma, let’s go! Two minutes and counting.”

“Right, yes. Fitz!” She, Fitz, and Dr. Foster started their last-minute prep routine to ensure a smooth transition.

May addressed Daisy, Mack, and Yo-yo as they waited, “You three know your orders. Be smart with every move you make. Bring Phil home if you can, but most importantly, you are not to miss your ride home under any circumstances.”

Mack nodded, and Elena gave a “Yes, ma’am,” but Daisy was uncharacteristically silent.

“That means you too, Daisy,” Melinda said pointedly. “I want no self-sacrificing plays from any of you.”

Daisy looked up and nodded at Melinda. “Got it.”

Dr. Foster shouted from across the room, “Twenty seconds! Be ready to go through, everyone!”

May gave them a final word or encouragement. “Good luck, everyone.”

As suddenly as before, the portal began to open, showing a window to what appeared to be a dark, dusty surface, but with the most beautiful black sky, peppered with as many stars as Melinda had ever seen in her life. She saw the three of them pass through the portal, but it closed suddenly after they had gone but a few steps through to the other side. Melinda let out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. All there was to do now, was wait.

\----------

Thirty-six hours. Melinda had been on missions where 36 hours had felt like only minutes. She had also been on missions where every agonizing tick of the clock had felt like a lifetime. This 36-hour stretch was one of the latter.

May had been working on the ever-building stack of paperwork that was starting to take over her desk. She focused on the expense reports from recruiters, authorizing the final payments for the repairs and rebuilding of the base, mission reports, training reports, and everything else she could to clean off her desk, and keep her mind busy.

After about twenty hours of almost constant work, she had caught up on paperwork, but her body was aching from spending nearly all that time in her desk chair. Her back already ached periodically from, and sitting in one position for that long had only exacerbated the issue. Other than getting up to find the occasional snack, restroom break, or stretch her legs, she was sitting in that damn chair. Sleep was not in the cards for her while they were gone, and with around 15 or 16 hours left before they got back, she decided a hot shower would be good for both her mind and body.

Climbing under the stream of hot water, she immediately felt the heat melting away some of the tension in her back and shoulders. Even after she washed her hair and everything, she couldn’t motivate herself to get out of the shower since the hot water felt so wonderful. Instead, she leaned her side against the wall of the shower to allow the water to continue to stream down her shoulders and back. Her mind started to wander, as always, her thoughts went straight to Phil. She didn’t know that she could miss someone so much. The little, comforting signs of his presence on base were what she missed most; a Captain America coffee mug left in the sink, the scent of his cologne lingering in the hallways, or hearing his horrible Rock music blaring while he was in the shower.

Her hormones were also making her miss Phil in _other_ ways, and with Daisy always around, she had little opportunity to do anything about it. She loved Daisy, but there were some things you couldn’t, and shouldn’t, do with your daughter in the bed next to you.

Still standing under the stream of water, she allowed herself to think of their first and only night together:

_Melinda wrapped her arms around Phil’s neck once again, smiling and standing on her tip toes to kiss him. They were a bundle of nervous energy, both knowing the nature of their relationship was about to change permanently._

_It only took a short time before Phil picked her up and positioned the both on the bed. His hands were uncertain as he slowly eased one down her side and across to her belly button before going lower still. Melinda couldn’t help herself and was making small noises of pleasure before she even realized it. She closed her eyes as he continued, nails digging into his back._

_“Phil.” She breathed into his shoulder. “Enough of the foreplay. I need you NOW.” He had been kissing her neck and shoulder, and she had been feeling his erection against her hip the whole time they had been on the bed._

_He stopped when she spoke and propped himself above her. “Are you sure?” His eyes were searching hers, looking for his answer._

_She arched her eyebrows at him, and instead of answering, she wrapped her legs around his waist, and slid herself further underneath him. “Unless you don’t want to. And I can tell you definitely want to,” she replied with a smirk._

_“That obvious, huh?”_

_Grabbing his face, she pulled his focus back to her. Lowering her voice to a sultry tone she said his name, “Phil. Stop stalling.”_

_He grinned sheepishly at her. “Sorry. Are you not nervous?”_

_“Of course, but we’ve gotten this far, and if you don’t take the last step soon, I’ll have to take matters into my own hands.”_

_He blushed, and she kissed him again as she wrapped her legs tighter around him, pulling them closer together._

_They started to move in a perfect rhythm with one another, her hips arching up to meet him with every thrust, and their bodies fitting each other perfectly. They were both gasping for breath, and they finished almost simultaneously. He stayed over her for a moment longer, kissing her again before moving to lay next to her._

_They caught their breath for a moment, laying in comfortable silence. She rolled over and propped herself up on one arm, eyeing him ravenously with a rare but genuine smile on her face. “My turn to be on top.”_

_He was stunned, but didn’t argue. She gently grasped him, and started moving her hand up and down his full length to get him ready. She increased her speed until he grabbed her wrist._

_“Melinda,” he said in warning._

_She kissed him and moved to sit on top of his lower abdomen all in one movement._

_He sighed contentedly, and put one hand on each of her hips as she raised up. She eased herself down on him and he let out a shaky breath. Melinda started moving in a slow, steady rhythm, and he was following her lead. He kept his left hand on her hip and the other moved up to her breasts, working magic like she had never experienced before. She started moving faster: they were both so close to the edge. Moving faster still, she felt him finish inside of her and she felt a shiver run through the rest of his body as he did so. Seeing him with a vulnerability that she had never experienced, and knowing that she was responsible, was more than enough to bring her to climax. After she was able to think clearly again, she realized she was still above him with both hands on his chest, and leaned down to kiss him again._

_She rolled sideways to lay in the crook of his arm, with her head on his chest and her fingers tracing the outside edges of the scar over his heart._

_They were both out of breath and trying to slow their breathing. “Why did we wait so long to do that, Mel?”_

_She knew it was a rhetorical question, and just grinned in response, fingers still trailing over his scar. Once she thought he was asleep she whispered, “I love you, Phil Coulson.”_

_After a heartbeat, his arm drew her closer and she heard a sleepy response, “I love you, too, Melinda.”_

_\-----------_

Even though she figured she wouldn’t sleep, Melinda had crawled into bed after her shower. Simmons had ordered her to do so, claiming that “Some rest was better than no rest.”

She tossed and turned for a while before finally settling down. She laid in peace for only a short while, before turning on a movie. May had intentionally picked something that would distract her enough to keep her mind off the mission, but not something interesting enough to keep her awake. Her plan worked. She woke slowly, and looked at the illuminated face of her watch to see how long was left on the timer she had set.  _One hour, twenty-one minutes, 53 seconds._

Melinda stayed in bed for a while longer, having a conversation with her unborn daughter. “Not long left now, little one.” She smiled as the baby wiggled into a new position, kicking her several times in the process. “You know, once daddy and Daisy get back, we need to go shopping. You’ll need clothes, and a crib, and diapers. Who knows what else.”

A sudden thought came to her, _I have no idea what a baby needs. How am I going to do this? I don’t know if I can be a mother._ Melinda thought she might have another panic attack, but she was able to calm herself down before it came to that. Breathing deeply, she got up to go check-in with Fitz to make sure everything was ready for their return trip. No sense worrying about the baby just yet, since the more imminent issue was getting their team back home.

Fitz assured her they were well prepared and now waiting on the 36-hour mark to arrive, so they could open the portal again. May had another small stack of paperwork on her desk that had been dropped off at some point in the last few hours, so she got to work on it to keep her busy. When she was done she looked at her watch again. T _hirty-seven minutes, fifteen seconds._ Sighing heavily, she stood and walked around for a moment, before deciding to do some Tai-Chi to distract and relax her.

Melinda was soon so focused on the slow, steady movements, that she almost didn’t answer the video call from Dr. Foster. “Director, we are going to power it up and open the portal. It’ll take about ten minutes to from start to finish.”

Melinda just nodded briskly, too nervous to say anything. She listened to the scientists tinkering around, double checking equipment, and calling out numbers to one another. They were paying her no attention to her, so she placed a hand on the side of her stomach, speaking gently as she did so. “Are you ready for your daddy and big sister to be home? I know I am.” The closer it got to time for them to be back, the less worried she became. All her worry and dread were slowly turning into something much more dangerous: hope.

Simmons called her name. “May, we’re opening it now!”

Looking at her watch she saw they only had about 30 seconds left on the clock before the scheduled time. As the portal started to open, Melinda held her breath, eyes glued to the monitor. She couldn’t see anybody on the other side, but suddenly Mack and Yo-yo burst through at a sprint.

As they came through, Mack yelled, “Keep it open, they’re coming!”

Melinda was watching with bated breath. She saw Daisy, and a figure that was unmistakably _… _Phil.__ She breathed a sigh of relief. __Oh God, they did it. They brought him home.__


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reunions and fluff abound!!

Melinda had disconnected the video feed shortly after seeing them come through, suddenly nervous about speaking to Phil. Everyone was under strict orders to keep quiet about her pregnancy; she wanted to tell him herself, in person. She was a nervous wreck for the next several hours during their travel back to base, unsure of how Phil would take the news.

Daisy called when they were five minutes out, to give her a last-minute heads-up, and to tell her that Fitz and Dr. Foster stayed behind with a selection of agents to pack up the frame of the portal for transport. Mack, Yo-yo, and Simmons were coming back with Daisy and Phil.

May had a seat at her desk to keep her stomach hidden from Phil until she was able to tell him the news. Suddenly, Daisy burst through the door, coming straight to Melinda to wrap her in a tight embrace. As Melinda gave Daisy a kiss on the forehead, she noticed Phil had just come around the corner, and was propped against the door frame. Her heart leapt into her throat and she had trouble getting her words out, “Baby, why don’t you give us a little bit, ok?”

Daisy grinned, and nodded, “Sure thing. I’ll go cook some dinner, if you guys want to join me in the kitchen later.” Daisy winked at Melinda on her way out, discreetly turning so Phil couldn’t see her do so. As she walked past Phil, Daisy quickly hugged him too, and Melinda heard her say, “Glad you’re home, A.C.”

They were both silent. Melinda couldn’t tear her eyes away from him, still not entirely sure she wasn’t dreaming.

Phil broke the silence first. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

“I missed you, Melinda.”

She gave a small smile, her heart beating rapidly. “I missed you, too, Phil. More than you know.” She broke their eye contact, looking down at her stomach that was hidden behind the desk. _It’s now or never, I guess._ She gestured to the chair on the opposite side of the desk. “Phil, have a seat. We need to talk.”

He immediately looked worried, but sat none the less. “What’s the matter, Mel? What happened after I left?”

She let out a humorless laugh. “How long do you have to listen?”

“We’ve got all the time in the world, Mel.” He said it genuinely and she knew he was truly happy to be back with her.

“I’m pregnant.” She didn’t mean to say it so bluntly, but it was out of her mouth before she realized it.

He stared at her dumbly, and blinked his eyes slowly before cocking his head slightly. “Say what, now?”

“We’re having a baby, Phil.” She was searching his face, looking for a sign of what he was thinking. She rolled her desk chair back a few inches, and stood to walk around to stand in front of Phil.

His eyes were wide, and he seemed to be in shock. Pointing to her stomach he said, “That’s ours?”

Melinda propped herself on the edge of the desk, keeping just about a foot between them. “Yeah. She’s ours.” She grinned at him, as she caressed her stomach. Holding out her hand to him, she gently asked, “Do you want to feel her kicking? She’s in a feisty mood today.”

He nodded and gave her his right hand, which she positioned on the swell of her stomach. “I don’t…” Suddenly his eyes got wider, as the baby threw another kick, directly where his hand was resting. He put both hands to her stomach and looked up at Melinda, tears in his eyes. “Mel, if I had known…” Phil suddenly moved, and she found herself wrapped in his arms.

She breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of him, allowing herself to finally feel at peace after so many months of uncertainty. “You couldn’t have known, Phil. It took me a while to figure it out, too.” She pulled him closer, nestling against his chest, and listening to his heart beat.

Phil gently put a hand under Melinda’s chin to turn her face toward his. “Mel. I don’t know if you remember, but at the end of the night… _before…_ We both said something. I still feel that way, and I’m hoping that you do, too.”

She gave him a bright smile, even though the tears that had started to fall. “Phil, we have a lot of things to catch up on, and a lot has changed. But the way I feel about you will never change.” She pulled him down to kiss him, and pulled back to look at him again, still in a semi-state of disbelief that he was _home_.

“Hey, don’t cry.” Phil cradled her face in his hands, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. He kissed her forehead and pulled her close again, rubbing her back as she continued to cry in his chest. After a few minutes he asked, “How long, Mel?”

She pulled back and wiped her eyes as she made her way toward the couch, gently pulling Phil along behind her. “About a month, give or take.”

Melinda sat almost in the middle of the couch, pulling Phil down to sit next to her so she could lay her head in his lap. Now that he was back, she had no intention of letting him stray too far. Keeping her fingers laced through his, she pulled his hand to her stomach and watched as he reacted to every movement of their daughter; a look of wonder on his face the entire time. After the baby had stopped wiggling as much, she asked, “How’d you end up on the moon, Phil?”

“It’s a long story. One that I would rather not have to repeat more than once.” Sighing heavily, he asked, “Do you mind if I tell you with everybody else after dinner?”

Melinda nodded her agreement, and rearranged her position to make room for them to lay together on the couch. It was no easy task for the two of them to get comfortable without one of them in peril of falling to the floor. Once they had stilled and Phil put his arms around her, Melinda had fallen asleep in a matter of moments. All the exhaustion of the last few days hitting her like a ton of bricks.

\----------

A soft knock at the door woke her some time later, and tried to extract herself from Phil’s arms without waking him. It didn’t work. “Sorry. Someone’s at the door,” Melinda whispered.

Before either of them could move to get off the couch, Daisy stuck her head in the door smiling broadly as she saw them, “Dinner is ready, lovebirds. Hope you guys like chicken alfredo.” She eyed them for another second before sliding back out of the doorway.

Melinda propped herself up to look at Phil. “I figure since we already have a ‘Daisy.’ What would you think about naming the baby ‘Lily’?”

“So, you adopted Daisy while I was gone?”

She struggled to get up since they were still in their tangled sleeping position, and Phil had to help her, so they could both get off the couch.

She answered, slightly winded from her efforts, “Phil, you know as well as I do that we adopted her as soon as we brought her onto the bus the first time.”

They walked toward the door, and she saw him looking at her with an expression she had never seen from him before. “What is it, Phil?”

He smiled at her, and gently stopped her from going through the door, “I was just thinking how you claimed you were ‘just the pilot’ when we first got the bus, but you were always so much more than that to me.”

“I know,” she said with a smirk as she led the way to the common room for dinner.

\----------

Gathered around the biggest dining table at the base, the team each had a huge helping of Simmons’ homemade chicken alfredo on their plates, and Melinda was quietly watching them all in turn. Across from her, Fitzsimmons and Dr. Foster were all having an animated conversation reliving their brilliant use of science and technology to rework the portal. Mack was speaking Spanish fairly fluently with Yo-yo to her left. Phil was immediately to her right talking to Daisy, asking about whether or not they had announced a date for the new _Star Wars_ movie.

Melinda watched silently as her team ate and talked. She felt her baby kick again and put a hand over where she felt the baby moving. _It’s ok, baby. Your daddy is home, the team is all here, and everything will all be fine._ She put her other hand on Phil’s leg next to hers. He saw her smiling at him, and laced his fingers through hers before leaning over to gently kiss her forehead. “I think it’s time to hear your story, Phil,” she whispered as he did.

Everyone had gone silent watching the unusual display of affection between the two of them. He nodded and took a deep breath. Addressing the whole group, he began to tell them his story. “After we came out of the Framework and finished all the craziness with Talbot, I made a deal with the government. We were to be detained and questioned to please the public after Talbot sold us out in the press. Then we would be split up between different government agencies eventually to continue working. Somehow, that didn’t happen. With Talbot in critical condition, they went back on our deal, or most of it. 

“Daisy and Yo-yo were to go work for the military to work on developing an Inhuman unit in the Marines. Fitzsimmons were to go to work on a new project by the UN to develop airborne vaccines for third-world countries. Mack was to go to work for Tony Stark. May and I were to go into fake retirement, and work undercover in China for the US government. When they got to us in the diner, after they froze everyone, they unfroze me, and told me our deal was off.

“I tried to renegotiate, but the best I could do was to turn myself in to them and hope for the best for you guys. I did manage to negotiate for May to be left alone. I knew SHIELD needed a leader with experience, who would know the proper channels and strategy to find the rest of you guys if the worst happened.”

Everyone was listening with rapt attention, and Melinda narrowed her eyes at him. She knew the majority of the reason he made a deal for her was because of his feelings for her, not the logical reason he described. She felt the baby move again, and realized how glad she was that he had negotiated her release, regardless of his motivation.

“I know that you guys had to fight to get out of your situations based on the short version of the story that Daisy was able to give me before we came back. I hate that I was unable to do more. I may have been able to if I hadn’t been taken within a couple of hours of us leaving the diner. Out of nowhere while I was being transported, the truck I was in was attacked and we flipped several times. I was pulled out of the truck, and thought I hit my head in the wreck. There was a _massive_ bulldog that was as tall as a man, and this short blonde girl. She gave the dog a command and the thing came running toward me, and the next thing I knew I was….. not on Earth anymore.”

Phil continued his story.  There was a colony of Inhumans living on the moon, claiming to be a “Royal Family.” They had wanted to get information about the Inhumans remaining on Earth. They had come seeking Afterlife and Jiaying, but upon realizing neither existed anymore, they went to the next source they knew about: SHIELD. Phil had been questioned for several weeks without divulging any information, but had eventually started working with them as they convinced him they were interested in moving to Earth. The Queen, Medusa, had told Phil they wanted to be sure things really had changed on Earth before they decided to come, and it was his job to explain everything SHIELD knew about interactions between humans and Inhumans, as well as eventually making requests for lists of Inhumans and their powers. Phil refused to tell them about specific Inhumans and their abilities, which meant the King and Queen refused to let him go without getting the information they wanted. The King and Queen made sure he was treated well, even providing him with a small apartment, in an attempt to gain his trust. Still, he refused. It was only due to the arrival of Daisy and Yo-yo that an agreement was reached. Daisy and Yo-yo demonstrated their powers and answered questions for a majority of the time they were on the moon in exchange for Coulson’s release. Part of their agreement was that Daisy and Yo-yo would visit once every three months to continue educating the colony on the moon about the Inhumans on Earth and keep them updated on how the human population reacted to them.

“I’m so sorry that all of you had to go through hell after I was taken. I wish I could’ve done more to keep you all safe,” he finished quietly.

Melinda squeezed his hand, trying to let him know everything was ok now. She wondered how much of Daisy had told him of her time on the Raft.

Daisy spoke up, “It’s all good, A.C. We’re all back now. And we have a baby shower to plan and some shopping to do, or you two will be up a creek without a paddle in a few weeks.”

Melinda rolled her eyes. “No.”

Simmons jumped in, “Oh come on, May! You need supplies before you have her, and we finally have time and a reason to celebrate! Let us throw you a party!”

Phil spoke up, “We’ll think about it.” He put his arm around Melinda and drew her closer. “In the meantime, I have serious jet-lag from the space-travel. I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

\----------

Melinda had just changed into her oversized t-shirt and crawled into bed when she heard a knock on the door. She knew who it would be without even asking, “Come in, Daisy.”

She opened the door and stuck her head through, “How’d you know it was me?”

Melinda opened her arms to Daisy, and wrapped her in tight embrace as the girl sat on the bed. “You’ve been in here every night since I got you back. I knew you wouldn’t go to bed without at least saying goodnight.” She kissed the top of Daisy’s head.

“Where’s Coulson?” Daisy asked as she laid back to share Melinda’s pillow.

“Shower.” Melinda said, pointing toward the bathroom door. She paused a moment, looking over Daisy and noticed a bruise on the girl’s cheek. It was obviously a couple of days old. “What happened to your face, baby?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. We just had a bit of a scuffle before we got to explain who we were. The make-up I used to conceal it must be wearing off.”

Just then, Phil opened the bathroom door, and came out in a pair of sweatpants and a comfy t-shirt. “Oh, good. The gang’s all here.” He sat on the other side of the bed from Daisy, putting Melinda between them.

May rolled on to her back and Phil leaned over to kiss her before he spoke to Daisy. “Thanks for coming after me, Daisy. I wouldn’t have been back in time if you guys hadn’t come for me.” Phil laid down next to Melinda, hesitantly putting a hand on her stomach.

She put her hand over his, and smiled at him. “You can talk to her if you want, Phil. Daisy does all the time.”

He looked questioningly from one to the other, “Yeah? She can hear us?” Getting a nod from Daisy and Melinda, he cleared his throat, and started speaking to Melinda’s stomach. “Hey. I’m your daddy.” Tears were welling in his eyes as he continued. “I’m so sorry I left you and your mommy for so long. I wish I would’ve been here when she found out about you.” He had tears slowly rolling down his face now. “I know I just found out about you today, but I love you so much already.” He kissed her belly, and she felt a wave of relief flood through her, know that she had her whole family together at last. Phil yawned widely before continuing, speaking now to Melinda. “Tomorrow, we need to discuss a few things. At length.”

Melinda rubbed his shoulder gently, and nodded. She did have a ton of questions for him, and she figured he had several for her.

He laid down behind her, stifling another yawn, and pulled her gently backward into his chest, draping his arm over her.

He was asleep within a matter of seconds, and Daisy moved toward the edge of the bed, only to be caught by Melinda before she could stand up.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Melinda asked in a whisper, picking her head up just enough to see Daisy clearly.

“Well I figured you may not want me hanging around your bedroom now that Coulson is back,” Daisy said sheepishly. “I already felt like I was intruding just now.”

Melinda looked at her and pulled her closer. “Stay tonight, Daisy. You’ve had a touch couple of days. You’re my kid, too, and you’re never intruding.” She smiled at Daisy, who was in the middle of a wide yawn.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be in the way.” Apparently traveling more than 200,000 miles through a portal had taken a toll on Daisy, too, since she was already trying to stifle another yawn.

“Stay.”

Daisy laid her head down on the pillow, “If you’re sure.” And she was asleep before Melinda could respond.

\----------

Melinda woke a few hours later, needing to go to the bathroom. It was a struggle for her to crawl to the foot of the bed to get out since she didn’t want to disturb Phil or Daisy in doing so. When she came back, she noticed Daisy was awake, and staring at the ceiling, obviously in deep thought. _I guess I wasn’t as careful as I thought getting out of bed._ Heading for the door, she gestured for Daisy to follow her.

Leading them to the kitchen, she pointed Daisy to one of the bar stools, and started making hot cocoa for Daisy and tea for herself. Glancing at Daisy periodically, she could see something was bothering the girl, but Daisy was still silent. Melinda brought the mugs to the counter, and pushed herself up to sit on the stool next to Daisy. She hit the top of her stomach on the edge of the counter as she did so, wincing as she did.

“Hey, are you ok?” Daisy put a hand on May’s arm in concern, and was eyeing her carefully.

She massaged the area she had hit. “Fine. Still adjusting to this,” Melinda said with a hand still on her belly. Turning her focus to Daisy, she said, “What’s going on, Daisy? Since you got back with Coulson, it’s like you’ve taken a step back from me. Other than a hug when you got back, and before we went to sleep earlier, you haven’t said two words to me.”

Daisy hung her head, and focused on her mug. “I just figured you and Coulson would want some time alone without me in the way before the baby is born.”

Melinda was shocked by the answer, and responded with a note of pain in her voice. “You think you’re in the way?”

Daisy still refused to meet May’s eyes and paused for a moment before answering softly. “That’s how it was growing up. A new kid arrived at the foster home or the couple would get pregnant, and all of the parents’ attention would be on the new kid. I figured it will happen to you guys, too, so I’m just preparing myself.”

“Oh, Daisy.” Melinda felt the breath catch in her throat. “Look at me.”

Daisy still didn’t look up.

“Daisy.”

The younger girl finally turned to look at May with tears in her eyes.  

“You are never an inconvenience or an annoyance to us. We aren’t going to push you aside and forget about you, Daisy. Do you understand?” Melinda was speaking more forcefully than she intended, but she needed Daisy to understand the truth of her words.

Daisy looked like a small, terrified child, tears rolling down her face. She nodded, and a sob escaped her.

May pulled Daisy to her and held the girl as she cried for a long while. Once the girl started to quieten down some, Melinda pulled back some, so she could look her in the eye. “You are not going to get pushed aside, baby. Whether you like it or not, you are our daughter, and we refuse to let you go.” Daisy had started crying again, and Melinda gently led her to the couch in the common room next door so they wouldn’t wake Phil by going back to the bedroom. “Lay down. You’re still exhausted from your trip. You need to sleep.” After getting Daisy a blanket, she sat on the couch, and Daisy laid her head in Melinda’s lap. She rubbed Daisy’s back, comforting the girl until she was able to fall asleep, and continuing even afterward.

A voice spoke from the doorway after about an hour, “Melinda, what’s wrong?” It was Phil.

She looked up at him, put a finger to her lips, and pointed to Daisy. Phil sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of her. He whispered to her, “Is Daisy ok?”

Melinda rested her hand on the girl’s back, “I think part of it is that she’s exhausted, but part of it is left over from her childhood.” Taking a deep breath, she continued. “She thinks we’re going to push her aside once the baby is born, Phil.” Melinda was fighting back tears.

“Well that’s ridiculous, Mel. Did you tell her that? Did you tell her we love her and won’t do that to her?”

“Of course, Phil.” She wiped a stray tear from her cheek. “I wouldn’t have been able to manage the last few months without her. I wouldn’t push her aside after all of this.” Looking up at him, she could see he was still exhausted. “You should get back to bed. If she’s this exhausted, I know you are, too.”

“What about you? Are you going to sleep out here?”

“I think so. I don’t want to wake her now that she’s sleeping, and I won’t leave her alone.”

“Then I’ll stay with you.” He moved toward the chair next to her, but she put up a hand to stop him.

“Go to bed and be comfortable, Phil. She’s comfortable, and you need to sleep, not slump in a hard chair all night.”

He paused for just a moment. "I'm only listening to you because I'm so tired. Otherwise, I'd be out here with you." Phil stood and leaned over to kiss her. "You're an amazing woman, Melinda. And an even better mother." He put a hand on her shoulder and smiled before kissing her again on his way out the door.

\----------

Daisy woke around three or four hours later, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. “You stayed.”

“Of course.”

“You should’ve stayed in bed and gotten some rest. I shouldn’t have bothered you.”

Daisy stood and tried to walk away, but Melinda caught her wrist before she could. “You didn’t bother me. You’re never a bother or annoyance.” Melinda stood and wrapped Daisy in her arms, and she felt the girl relax into the embrace after a moment. Melinda whispered, “I love you so, so much Daisy. You’re the only reason I have stayed somewhat sane these last few months.” Daisy responded by trying to back away, but Melinda only tightened her grip. “I need you to believe what I’m saying to you, Daisy. Ok?”

Daisy nodded against May’s shoulder, and Melinda let her pull back.

“This afternoon I’m going to get Simmons to do an ultrasound for Phil to see the baby. Why don’t you join us? Around 3?”

Daisy nodded again. “I’ll be there.”

\----------

Melinda went back towards her room. It was still early, and she wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed and go to sleep after spending half the night awake on the couch. She walked through her bedroom door, only to find Phil sprawled diagonally across the bed, taking up entirely too much space. She cupped a hand to his cheek, and kissed him gently. “Phil.”

His eyes fluttered a bit, but he didn’t wake up.

She spoke a bit louder this time. “Phil. Slide over.”

Opening one eye, he slid over to let her in the bed, and she slid all the way against him so they were nestled together, his arm draped over her.

“How’s Daisy?” He asked in her ear.

“I think she’ll be ok. She’s always so tight-lipped about her past, I forget that she has her own demons to fight.” Melinda sighed and squeezed his hand, “I’m so glad you’re home, Phil.”

He was already asleep again, and she was not far behind him.

\----------

Phil had been back for almost a week, and was working with Melinda daily to get himself caught up so that he could take over as Director again. They were having lunch together one afternoon, when Daisy and Simmons came through the door, grinning from ear to ear and faces slightly flushed with excitement.

Simmons was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet as she spoke, “May, Coulson, would you two come with us please?”

Melinda looked at Phil and arched her eyebrows in question.

Phil grinned mischievously at her and stood with her hand held out toward her.

_So, he’s in on it, too. Whatever it is._

Narrowing her eyes at him, she took another bite of her food and let him pull her to her feet. “This had better be worth it if you’re pulling a pregnant lady away from her lunch.”

Walking toward the door, he put a hand on the small of her back. “Oh, it’s gonna be worth it, Mel,” Phil whispered in her ear.

As they followed Simmons and Daisy down the hall, Melinda stopped suddenly, realizing what they were probably headed into. After all, she and Phil had just been discussing a couple of days ago that they needed to go shopping since they had no clothes or supplies at all for a baby that would be born within four weeks, or based on what Simmons kept saying, within two.

She narrowed her eyes at Phil as they kept walking. “How long have they been planning this?”

He had that goofy grin on his face and feigned innocence, “What do you mean?”

Melinda rolled her eyes playfully and muttered, “There better at least be cake.”

\----------

The team had done a fantastic job shopping for them. The girls had obviously done the shopping, but the guys claimed half of the credit. They gave Phil and Melinda everything they would need to get started, from clothes and shoes, to baby shampoo and a bath tub, diapers of varying sizes, blankets, pacifiers, and toys. After everyone had been thanked and had cake and punch, most of them started to trickle out, and soon it was just Daisy, Coulson, and May left.

Melinda finished her cake and leaned back on the couch, stretching her legs out on the small coffee table in front of her, content to sit with Phil and Daisy for a while longer before they went their separate ways too.

Phil had been going through all the gifts and came to sit by her when he was done making a list. “The only thing we need is a car seat and a stroller. Do you want to go pick one out tomorrow afternoon, Melinda? I think we can all go grab some dinner while we’re out.”

“If you want to, Phil. We probably need to go ahead and get it sooner rather than later.” Melinda felt her abdomen tighten in one of the Braxton Hicks contractions, and winced painfully as she slowly exhaled, noticing Phil looking at her with concern. “I’m fine,” she said slightly breathlessly. “Simmons says these are more common the last few weeks of pregnancy.” She got to her feet with Phil right behind her. She paced the floor a few times with her hands propped on the small of her back for support.

“Melinda, maybe you need to lay down.” Phil looked alarmed to say the least.

Daisy was the one who answered, “if it’s not actual labor, it helps if she moves around or changes position. According to the OB and Simmons, as the baby grows basically her body is adjusting, and prepping for when she actually has the baby. They’re like practice contractions.” She held out her unopened bottle of water, offering it to Melinda.

May took it from her and took a sip. “It’s fine, Phil. Really. They aren’t an issue, and most of the time they’re only slightly uncomfortable. You haven’t even noticed the others.” Seeing he still wasn’t convinced, she walked toward him, and kissed him lightly, as he draped his arms around her. “I promise it’s fine, Phil. I’m going to lay down and take a nap, but not because suggested it; because your daughter is draining all my energy and keeping me awake half the night.” She kissed him again and gave him a small smile.

As she passed Daisy, she squeezed the younger agent’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

On her way out the door, she turned and saw Phil hug Daisy tightly. She could just barely hear his words: “Thank you for being here for her when I couldn’t be.” He pulled away. “I can’t believe how different she is. I haven’t seen her like this since before Bahrain. That’s thanks mostly to you, Daisy.”

Still listening from the doorway, she couldn’t hear Daisy’s response, but she heard Phil again a moment later. “Daisy, you jumped right in and knew what to do a few minutes ago when all I could do was panic and suggest the wrong thing. You’ve been here helping her, healing her, all this time. She told me you have been a huge help and support for her.”

Melinda got a swift kick in the ribs, and put a hand on her stomach. _Fine, fine. I know I shouldn’t be eavesdropping._ And with that, she left the two of them to their conversation.

\----------

The next morning Melinda was supervising Daisy and Piper as they trained several of the newer recruits, calling out directions and criticizing what their form and technique as she did.

“No! You have to be more precise than that! Daisy, show him what I mean.” Melinda was frustrated that Piper and Daisy had not been able to give her a favorable report on the newest agents, and she wanted to witness their training first hand.

Daisy swiftly knocked the agent off his feet with a quick kick to the chest.

“See how she knew exactly where to plant a kick to drop him? It has to be calculated, not done on a whim!”

For over an hour, May continued barking instructions and pointing out flaws that Piper and Daisy couldn’t see up close. At the end of the training session, Melinda felt marginally more confident with the new recruits, but they still had a long way to go.

She left the gym and headed toward the Director’s office. It had been nice to do something she enjoyed again, instead of being trapped behind a desk doing paperwork and making phone calls all day. Now that Phil was back and relatively caught up on where things stood, she had mostly given all of the directorial duties back to him, but she still made sure to check in on him from time to time to see if he had questions for her.

When he saw her walk through the door, he smiled broadly, but she could tell something was off. Making her way to sit on the edge of the desk, she asked, “What’re you doing, Phil?”

“Nothing. I’ve just been looking at stroller reviews, so we can know what our top options are when we go shop later.”

She didn’t buy that that was the whole story, but she let it go. He’d been a little squirrely for at least a week, and Melinda knew he would tell her what was going on when he was ready. _It must be hard to come back to earth after an 8-month trip to space and find so much has changed._

Looking up at her, he smiled again. “Daisy said she would be ready about two o’clock to go shop and everything before dinner. Does that work?”

“Yeah. That’ll be fine.”

Phil pulled her down to sit in his lap, and she gently rested against him as he wrapped his arms around her. “Melinda? Do you ever think about how different things are than when we first became partners? How our relationship has changed over the years?”

She gave a small humorless laugh. “Phil, things have changed dramatically in the last year. Hell, in the last week things between us have changed.” May angled around so that she could see him, finally asking him the question that had been on her mind since he got back. “Phil, do you think we can do this?”

“Do what? Have a relationship?”

“Have a relationship, be parents, live a semi-normal life. We aren’t exactly young anymore, Phil. We’re having a baby in our 50s, with a job where we are both in mortal danger at least once a week, and we live at a place that is not exactly suited for raising a child.” She paused for a moment before finding the nerve to continue. “What if I’m not good at it? At any of it?”

“Melinda. It’s not going to be easy, of that much I’m sure. But we can figure this out together. You and I are in a different place than any we have ever been, and we’ll have to make it up as we go along. But, God, I love you Mel. It took us so long to get here, and I’m willing to work as hard a s possible for things between us to work. And as for her,” he leaned forward and kissed the top of her stomach. “I don’t know if anybody is ever really prepared before they become parents, but I’ve seen you with Daisy. You love her whole-heartedly and unconditionally, and that’s the important part of being a parent.”

She had an incredulous look on her face and stood, with some assistance from Phil, and made her way across the room, “How do you do that?”

“What?”

“Somehow always have a positive outlook on everything? You just found out about all of this,” she gestured to her stomach, “last week, but you never batted an eye. You’re ready to tackle being a parent, and be a family. I’ve had almost nine months to figure this out, and I’m still struggling to make sense of all this.”

He stood and made his way to her, taking her hands in his own. “It’s you, Mel.” Seeing her confused look, he continued. “You have always been the one constant in my life. You’ve been here for me through everything. I know that as long as I have you and, the rest will work itself out. There’s nothing in this world that would make me happier than to spend my life with you, and have a baby with you.”

Looking into his eyes she could see the truth of his words reflected there. She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him, and felt his arms wrap around her comfortingly. May laid her head on his chest as she returned his embrace. He kissed the top of her head and held her a while longer before they had to leave to find Daisy.

\----------

A few hours later they were pulling out of the parking lot of the store Phil had found for them to shop. Daisy and Phil had argued good naturedly the entire time over which stroller was the best. In the end, Melinda picked one that the two of them had both been considering, forcing them to hurry up the process. Then they had all looked at clothes and toys, and a myriad of other items they didn’t really need, but spent a small fortune on anyway.

With the back of their SUV full of their new purchases, Daisy and Phil were chatting good naturedly while Melinda dozed in and out of wakefulness. A while later, Melinda heard Daisy ask Phil where they were headed, and it was enough to bring her out of her state of semi-sleep. Looking around, she noticed they were turning off the highway onto a small country road. “Phil? Where are we going?”

He looked over at her and then back at Daisy, grinning broadly all the while. “There’s a small detour we need to take.”

After about 5 minutes, Melinda noticed a house on a hill in the distance, with lots of open space to the front, and woods bordering not far behind the back. It was a two-story brick house that was large, but not extravagant.

“Phil, what is this?” She asked as his smile got even bigger.

“Just wait, Mel. You two will see.”

He pulled up the long gravel driveway and parked in front of the house. “Alright, hop out everybody.” Phil half-jogged around to the passenger side to meet Melinda and Daisy. “Ready ladies?”

“Well you still haven’t told us what we’re doing here, so I don’t know what I’m supposed to be ready for…” Daisy answered.

Phil put his hand on the small of Melinda’s back and led her up the stairs of the front porch, with Daisy right behind them. “So, I haven’t finalized anything yet, but if you two are agreeable, all it would take is a phone call and we can start the final paperwork tomorrow. It’s four bedrooms, three-and-a-half bath, living room, dining room, and a spectacular kitchen. It’s a 30-minute drive to base, but the property backs up to the edge of the property the base sits on, so it’s close to work.” He was speaking quickly and held up his hands, “But don’t answer me yet, just go inside and look at it first.”

Melinda looked at Daisy who was eyeing Coulson with a look of surprise on her face, and then turned back to Phil. “Is this because of what we talked about earlier? About the base not being the best place to raise a baby?”

“Actually, I have been working on this since the day after I got back. I thought if we were going to be a real family, we need to live like one, instead of living on a base where literally nothing is kid-friendly.”

Melinda smiled at him. _How did I get so lucky to have Phil Coulson in my life?_ “Lead the way, then. Give us the tour.”

He opened the door and ushered them through.

Daisy threaded an arm through Melinda’s and leaned in to whisper, “Did you know anything about this?”

“No. Did you?”

Daisy shook her head. “I’m pretty impressed that he did this without either of us figuring it out.”

Phil shut the door behind them, proceeding to show them the beautiful house. The master suite was huge, and had plenty of space to have a bed for them, as well as keep a crib until the baby was old enough to move to her own room. Phil had purposely picked a room with gorgeous windows and a balcony for Daisy, which she had been thrilled to find out was hers.

When they had made their way back to the front door, he asked, “Well? What do we think? Should we proceed?”

Daisy answered quickly. “I love it! How often can I come visit?”

“It’s your room, baby. You can stay every night if you want.” Melinda nudged her gently in the side. “As long as you don’t mind a crying baby for the first few months.”

Phil looked to Melinda, “What do you think?”

She smiled at him fondly, “I think it’s perfect, Phil. Get the paperwork started.”

\----------

That night as they were getting ready for bed, Melinda walked behind Phil as he finished brushing his teeth and wrapped her arms around him. “You know, Phil. That was a romantic gesture today. Spending a week looking for houses for us, and surprising us while we were out.”

He turned around to face her, smile on his face. “I know,” he said wrapping his own arms around her. “I’d do anything for you, Mel. For us.” Phil leaned down to kiss her gently, but she soon pulled him closer, playfully biting his lips, teasing him with the tip of her tongue.

“Do you know what I have been dying to do to you since you got back?” She whispered before kissing his mouth and started working her way down his throat, alternating soft nips and kisses as she went.

            Phil shivered as she got to his collar bone, and held her at arm’s length. “Can we even…. you know…. without hurting the baby?”

She kissed him deeply as she put her hands under his shirt, and pushing it over his head. “Of course, Phil,” she said breathlessly. She kissed him again, pulling at the band of his sweat pants.

“Melinda, wait.” He gently grabbed her wrists. “What are you doing? The door isn’t locked, and Daisy could be back any second.”

“Daisy is staying in her own room tonight, Phil. It’s just us.” Since he was still guarding his sweatpants, she took a step back and removed her top and her leggings. “Come on, Phil. I have remembered our night together so many times, and I don’t want to have to use my imagination any more.”

He was eyeing her chest, and she was aware how tight her bras had been fitting lately. She unhooked it quickly, looking at him through her long lashes as he watched it fall. She smirked as it was becoming more obvious that his longing for her was just as powerful as her own was for him. “I thought I’d save you the trouble of unhooking this since I seem to recall you have issues with them.”

“Bringing that up is not fair. I have improved my game since then.” He blushed but sounded slightly defensive.

She smirked at him as she stepped out of her underwear and closed the space between them in only one step. Melinda put her arms around his neck and leaned up to nibble his ear, “Prove it, Coulson.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Philinda gets a happy ending. For once.

Just over two weeks later, Melinda and Phil were packing. They were to sign the final paperwork for their house the next morning. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Melinda was folding the stack of Phil’s t-shirts as he tossed them out of the closet. He was talking excitedly about the house and the baby, and didn’t notice her stop short in the middle of her folding. She gripped the side of the bed tightly as she waited for the contraction to pass. She’d been having them for the last several hours, but they were still irregular. _No need to worry Phil quite yet._

Once Phil turned around and saw the pile of shirts still on the bed, he looked concerned. “You ok, Mel? You’ve been more quiet and moving a little slower than usual today.”

She smiled at him. “Fine. Just thinking about tomorrow.”

Thankfully he bought it, too excited himself to notice the smile on her face was semi-forced. “This is a big step we’re taking. But I’m ready for it.” He leaned down to kiss her before sitting next to her, taking her hands in his own. “In fact, there’s something I want to ask you.”

She waited for him to proceed, a confused look on her face.

“Melinda, we’ve waited so long to be together, and now we are, with a baby on the way. We’re buying a house tomorrow. There’s only one thing that could possibly make me happier: would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” He dropped one of her hands to pull a box out of his pocket. Opening it, he showed her a ring.

It had one diamond on a plain silver band, but she loved it.

“Phil,” her voice was full of emotion, “I would…”

He interrupted, rambling nervously. “It belonged to my mother. It’s not much, and I know you’re not the sentimental type, but I thought you might like it. What do you say? Will you? Marry me?”

She gripped his hand tightly and looked at him with wide eyes, “Phil. I think my water just broke.”

\----------

She made Phil get her a new pair of pants before she would agree to leave the room. “I’ll stay in here and give birth before you’ll get me to walk halfway across base with wet pants, Phil. It’s not like the baby is just going to jump out any…” Melinda bent almost double, grabbing the edge of her dresser for support, as another contraction started in her lower back and radiated through her. _Ok, this one is definitely a lot stronger than before._

“Melinda?” He was by her side in a moment, and she grabbed his hand as she tried to breathe through the pain.

When she was able to speak again her voice was unsteady, but she was adamant. “Phil, I mean it. I’m going to push another human out of my body, at least let me make the trip to the med bay with some dignity.”

He helped her change and then they were out the door. Phil had his hand on the small of her back as they walked down the hall. “I should’ve called or texted Simmons to let her know we were on the way.”

“We’re almost there. It’s a little late now.” Melinda stopped and reached for Phil with one hand and braced herself on the wall with the other. She stood there for nearly a minute before she nodded to Phil to indicate they could continue.

Fitzsimmons’ door was not far, but at their slower than average pace, it took a while to get there. Thankfully it was at least near the med bay, and Phil banged on the door repeatedly.

Melinda could hear Simmons on the other side of the door shouting, “All right, all right, I’m coming!! If it’s any of you bloody new recruits, you had better have a good excuse for bothering me on my time…” She whipped the door open suddenly and lowered her voice to normal volume when she saw Coulson. “..off. Sir, so sorry. I thought some of those junior agents were here to bother me yet again. Is anything the matter?”

Before he could answer, Melinda gave a small yelp of pain from where she was propped against the wall, trying to remember to breathe.

Simmons stepped out into the hallway, seeing May for the first time. “Oh! Agent May! Come on, come on. Let’s get you checked over, shall we?” She got on one side and Phil on the other and headed for the med bay.

\----------

Jemma instructed Melinda to a room she had set up for her. It was private, so no wandering eyes would be able to peek in.

Melinda pulled herself up to sit on the gurney and sent Phil on his way to find Daisy, assuring him that Simmons would take care of her in his absence.

Simmons was rummaging in a drawer looking for a new blanket and hospital gown. “So, first things first, May. How long have you been having real contractions?”

“About six or seven hours. And to answer your next question, my water broke a little over an hour ago.”

Jemma turned around, blanket and hospital gown in hand. “And I assume the intensity and frequency has increased since that point.”

Melinda nodded as Simmons handed her the gown. “Alright then, gown on, then we can get you hooked up to a monitor and check to see how far dilated you are, ok? I’ll nip next door and grab the fetal monitor since it’s the one thing I don’t have in here. Are you ok to put the gown on by yourself, or would you like some help?”

“I think I’ll manage, Simmons, but thank you.” 

“Right, back in a moment, then.”

Melinda stood to change into her gown and another contraction hit her hard, causing her to grip the bed frame for support. She did manage to change and get into bed fairly quickly after that, and Phil Daisy and Simmons came through the door almost simultaneously.

Daisy was beaming. “So, we’re going to meet my baby sister soon, I hear?” She gave Melinda a quick hug before sliding out of Simmons’ way.

“Ok we’ll put this on, and just keep an eye on things,” Simmons slid the strap behind Melinda and Velcro-ed it into place. “Fetal monitor is set, and I need to check you to see how we’re doing, ok?” Examining Melinda, she was able to exclaim happily, “Seven centimeters! That’s wonderful considering how short your labor has been so far. Also, I know you told me you don’t want an epidural, but if you change your mind, let me know quickly. If you wait too much longer it won’t have time to work. The pain will continue to get more intense, so think it over.”

\----------

Another few hours later, Melinda was already exhausted, and still had no baby. She thought she might strangle Simmons if she came back again and told her she still wasn’t at ten centimeters.              

Melinda was in pain, the contractions coming hard and fast, and she was nothing short of mean to Phil, Daisy, and Simmons. _I should’ve gotten the damn epidural when I had the chance._ Daisy had pulled Melinda’s hair into a ponytail for her, but she still had sweat rolling down her face.

Jemma walked into the room and cheerfully announced it was time to check again to see if she could push.

Speaking through gritted teeth and the pain of another contraction, “Simmons, I swear to God if you tell me one more time that I have to wait, I will kick your ass.”

She could see Daisy on one side trying to hide a smirk, and Phil responded, “She doesn’t mean that, Simmons.”

“You try being on this end of child birth, and then tell me I don’t fucking mean it, Phil.”

“Well, Agent May, you’d have to catch me first, and in your current state, I’m fairly certain I could outrun you,” Jemma said with a smile.

Melinda just glared at her in response.

“Well, good news! It looks like I am safe from bodily harm for a while longer. We’ll get you into position and then we can get ready to meet your daughter.”

\----------

Their baby was perfect. Simmons managed to convince Melinda to hand her over long enough for a brief exam and a quick clean-up before handing the baby back to her. It had been several hours now, and other than handing her occasionally to Phil or Daisy, she had not put the baby down.

Phil was sharing the bed with her, and Melinda was nestled against his shoulder as Daisy was walking and softly singing to her sister.  Melinda thought she could never be happier than in this perfect moment.

Daisy came over and whispered to her, “Did you guys ever figure out a name?”

Melinda smiled at her, excited to tell her the name they had picked. “Lillian Mei-Lin Coulson. I thought since we had a ‘Daisy’already, then Lily would make a nice addition.” Daisy’s eyes were a little brighter than usual and she turned back around still walking and singing softly to the baby.

A sudden thought struck Melinda, and looked up at Phil, seeing he was almost asleep. “Phil?”

He blinked sleepily at her. “Mel, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just realized we were interrupted before I got to answer your proposal earlier.” She smiled at him and noticed he was starting to become more alert.

“And..?” He asked hopefully.

“How would I ever say know when you’ve already made me so happy? Phil, my answer is yes, of course I will marry you.”


	11. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dreams come true.

“No, Daisy, raise your side just a bit,” Melinda called from across the yard. “It’s not quite even.” Setting up the yard for Lily’s sixth birthday was more time consuming than she thought. Thankfully though, Daisy and Simmons had shown up to help while Phil had taken Lily to get lunch before the party.

As they put the final touches on the decorations and got the cake out, Phil pulled Lola into the driveway, Lily bolted from the car straight toward her. She picked the girl up and swung her into her arms, planting playful kisses all over her daughter’s face.

Giggling the whole while, Lily suddenly saw Daisy and squirmed to get down, “Mama! Daisy’s here!”

Melinda sat her down and watched her run toward Daisy at top speed, wrapping both arms around Daisy from behind. May grinned at the sight of the two of them.

“I can’t wait for Julie and James to get to this age,” Simmons said from behind her.

Melinda turned at the sound of her voice. “It goes by so fast, Jemma. Are the twins walking yet?”

“Julie has taken one step on her own and then sat down, refusing to do more. James will stand, but he only takes steps if you’re holding his hands. They should be here with their father shortly.”

Melinda smirked, “Well you better go see Lily while you’ve got the chance. You know she is more interested in spending time with your kids than with any of us adults.”

Jemma gave a small laugh. “Yes, well except for Daisy that is. But if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go wish the birthday girl a ‘Happy Birthday’ while I can.”

She could tell Phil was behind her. Daisy would say it was from her ‘ninja skills,’ but really it was a sixth sense that developed with their relationship over the last three-and-a-half decades. She leaned back into his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Do you ever wonder how we got so lucky, Mel?” He whispered in her ear.

She turned in his arms and put her arms around his neck before kissing him softly. “Every day, Phil,” she said with a smile.

Lily squealed from across the yard, making both of them to look in her direction, but she was just playing tag with Daisy and Jemma while they waited on the guests to arrive. Melinda turned back to Phil, a strange sense of déjà vu taking over.

It had been so long since she had the dream, she had almost forgotten about it. “Phil, I had a dream like this once. While you were gone. I didn’t think this would ever happen, but I’m glad it did.”

Just then Lily pushed her way between them, and they both looked down at her. “Mama, Daddy, Daisy won’t let me have cake. She said we have to wait on everybody.”

They both grinned at their daughter, but it was Phil that answered her, “Well let’s go see if we can get your sister to bend the rules a little bit, otherwise you can fight her for it.”  He winked over his shoulder at Melinda as Lily dragged him toward Daisy.

She heard Lily shouting “You’re going to get it now, Daisy! Daddy said I can fight you if you won’t give me cake, and we both know I will win!”

After Bahrain, Melinda couldn’t imagine herself being a mother or a wife, but now she couldn’t imagine her life without her kids and husband. She could tell they were arguing good naturedly over the cake.  She rolled her eyes, and headed toward them, deciding it was time for her to interfere before Lily managed to get her hands on the cake.

 

**The End.**


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